RKNE
by WindRanger
Summary: RWBY, JNPR, and CRDL. Three teams formed at Beacon Academy, but they aren't the only ones. Follow the story of RKNE and their time at Beacon.
1. You Are (Not) Late

Far from the kingdom of Atlas, there lies a village named Everwinter, a small settlement that lives off the land, never having any shortage of resources. Its villagers were all happy folk, capable of protecting their home from any stray wildlife that would dare harm their loved ones. It was a truly peaceful settlement, until it was plunged into chaos due to the creatures of Grimm. The villagers were no strangers to these evil beasts and had set up walls around their home that could keep a few Grimm at bay while they prepared to deal with them personally, but this time there weren't just a few Grimm. In no time at all, the walls fell and dozens of Grimm began to wreak havoc on the unprepared villagers. Panic spread throughout the village as the Grimm began destroying homes and killing its inhabitants. Some decided to try to stop the creatures but soon found themselves outnumbered or overpowered by the beasts. The villagers began to pray for salvation, hoping that someone or something could save them from these monsters.

Just then, a hooded figure clad in green appeared wielding a bow and began to dispatch of the creatures. One by one the Grimm died at the hands of the hooded figure and the remaining few charged at the unknown threat. The hero folded the bow in two, placed it on his back and pulled out a pair of daggers with which he began to take on his challengers. The villagers watched in awe as they witnessed their savior fight the beasts with such elegance and grace that it looked more like a deadly dance than a flurry of attacks. The Grimm continued to fall until one remained, the alpha. The two stared each other down and then charged at one another with the intent to end the fight in just one move. The large Grimm took a swipe at his opponent, who dodged it in time and drove his blades deep into its sides. But it wasn't enough. The beast slammed the hero away with a great force and sent him tumbling a ways back.

The hooded fighter stood up and readied his bow and took aim at the monster who in turned charged at him. The archer showed no hesitation and kept the arrow knocked, his green eyes locked onto his target as the wind howled. The Grimm continued its rush and once in range, let out a powerful slash. However, the hero was ready for that and swiftly jumped back and released his arrow at the creature's chest. The arrow pierced right through its chest and destroying its heart, killing the beast. The villagers were awe struck; they had been spared from death by this one man. Cheers could be heard throughout the village; their prayers were answered.

"Please, kind sir, tell us your name." asked one of the village elders as the rest of the people crowded around him.

The figure pulled down his hood, long, brown locks resting on his shoulders. and spoke "My name is Nathan Forrest, and I fight to protect the world." The elder smiled and said

"Well Sir Forrest, we are ever so grateful for your valiant deed today." The man let out a hearty laugh as he gestured into the masses, "Come, join us in celebrating your act of triumph over the Grimm!" With these words the rest of the village cheered and began to chant in glee, "Nathan! Nathan! Nathan! Nathan!" The chanting continued, slowly changing in tone and sound until it merged into one very familiar voice…

* * *

( _N POV_ )

"Nathan. Nathan. Wake up, Nathan." Yep, I definitely know this voice. I opened my eyes and saw the orange-haired figure of my mom, standing over my bed. Did I oversleep again?

"Do you know what time it is?" Oh yeah, definitely did.

"Ummm, hopefully not noon yet?" I asked with a nervous grin as I rose up from the bed, knowing fully well it was probably one o'clock or something.

"It's 10:30 in the morning," she said in a terse manner. Wait, it's still morning and she's acting like I woke up at midday or something. It's not like today is anything important, after all, the only day I have to be up early is the day I have to go to Beacon, but that's isn't until… today. Oh. OH. I forgot. I'm supposed to leave today. I grabbed my glasses from the nightstand, jumped out of bed, and ran into the bathroom, hearing my mother sigh as I started a basic hygiene routine as fast as I could. After successfully combining a shower with brushing my teeth, I raced over to my closet and threw on my usual outfit: a dark grey shirt, black cargo pants and boots, and my favorite green jacket. It was a pretty wrinkled up, but I've never been conscious about my fashion sense and I'm not about to start today. I slapped on my wristwatch and glanced at the time. 10:45. I'm making good time.

"Hey mom, at what time does the ship from Atlas to Beacon head out?" I asked as I brushed out the bedhead of my naturally unruly hair into a more presentable state. I swept away the bangs from my eyes before looking in the mirror. I turned my head to look at the rest of the hair, reaching down midway to my neck. Maybe I should get a haircut?

"Well, it leaves at 11:30, so I suggest you get your ass in gear and get moving if you still plan on making it."

Shit.

I should leave the beauty decisions for another time. After brushing my hair into its usual shaggy form, I strapped on the rest of my gear and gave the room a final once over before bolting out the door. As I ran downstairs and made a beeline for the door, there was nothing on my mind except making it to the hangar before the ship took off. That is until I saw a flying thermos out of the corner of my eye, on a collision course with my face. The sudden assault caught me by surprise and could've turned the morning into an even bigger shit show, but I managed to catch it by sheer reflex alone.

"Heads up," My mom called out from the kitchen, tying her hair into a neat little bun (except for a few wild strands that managed to escape) as she cleaned the plates that had been used for breakfast.

"You're supposed to say 'heads up' _before_ you throw something," I chastised her as I unscrewed the top and took a whiff inside the thermos to find out what was inside. It turned out to be full of coffee, and strong one at that. Which begs the question, why did my mother just throw a thermos full of hot coffee at her unsuspecting son's face?

"Hey, you caught it, didn't you? And if I had warned you, you wouldn't have stopped long enough for me get my goodbye," she said in a smug tone as she walked over and hugged me. "Take care, Nathan. I love you." I could hear her voice break a little when she spoke, just before she broke out into tears. Seeing my usually calm and cool mother crying like this was shocking. I didn't think she'd be so upset about me leaving home. I hugged her tight as she spoke between sobs, doing my best to hold back my own tears. "Remember to believe in yourself, go for broke, don't be a stranger, say no to drugs, and always use protection." I stood there dumbfounded as her words went from really moving and sweet to complete nonsense as she finished the sentence. I swear…

"Geez, Mom, with that kind of motivational speech, it's a wonder you didn't become a public speaker." She gave a series of mock bows, causing me to chuckle more.

"I'm gonna miss you over there. Bye, love you. Tell Jennifer and Saber I love 'em too." I gave her a two finger salute before grabbing my luggage and heading for the door, taking a swig from the thermos as I walked.

By the time I got to the door, the swig had turned into half the thermos, which was, incidentally, a lot. A bad feeling spread through my gut. Waking up with good coffee is a nice feeling. Drinking it on an empty stomach, not as pleasant. I looked at my watch as I reached to open the door, only looking up when it didn't budge. The reason for the resistance was my little sister Jennifer, who was pushing the door shut with her back while holding her cat, Saber, in her hands.

"Jenny, I don't have time for this, I'm not gonna make it if you keep standing there." I said, trying to pry her away from the door. It was pointless though, since she managed to stick herself to the floor so that I couldn't open the door or move her. Damn it. Sometimes I wish her Semblance hadn't manifested yet.

"Good! Then you don't have to leave me." Saber meowed as if in agreement.

"You hush, cat. You don't even like me," I called out, putting my finger directly in front of its mouth, only to be surprised when it nuzzled up to my hand rather than bite it. Wow, way to make me look like the asshole, Saber. I thought we were cool. Maybe I should switch my tactics.

"If I don't go out that door, I'll never be able to accomplish my dream, make new friends, or possibly meet _the one_. I'll never amount to anything and live a sad, lonely life. Is that what you want?"

"N-no!" she spat out almost immediately.

"Then, please, I need to go!" It was 11 sharp. There wasn't any time to waste.

"No! I don't want you to be sad, but I don't want to see you go away forever. I don't wanna!" Tears began forming at the corners of her eyes as she shook her head in protest, light brown hair dancing about. Is that why she's so determined to stall me?

I knelt down and wrapped my arms around her, accidentally crushing Saber, who wriggled around until he broke free. "I won't be gone forever you know, we'll be in touch and I'll try to come visit if I can. But right now I need to be out that door and headed towards the hangar." I let go of her to look straight into her bright green eyes, "Besides, you're supposed to be starting your own training tomorrow. A huntress must be cool and mature; she can't just throw a tantrum when things don't go her way. Imagine what Kaz would think if he found out about this..."

She jumped up from those last words and quickly wiped the tears away, replacing her sad frown with a defeated look. "Alright, I'll move. Just... don't tell Kazimir, okay?" She spoke low enough so our mom couldn't overhear her, a light blush forming on her face. "And promise you'll call."

I smirked, "Deal," pulling her in for one more hug before she reluctantly moved out of the way.

With that done, I grabbed my stuff and bolted outside, only to be greeted by my dad, dressed up for his job as a police officer. Seriously, does everyone want to stop me for an emotional goodbye?! If oversleeping causes this much stress, I should really get a better sleeping habit. I gave him a wide perimeter as I made my way to the car; I couldn't afford to waste a second on any sort of manly show of affection. I talked so he couldn't have the chance to, "Look, I know you wanna say your "goodbye" and "I love you", but it's…" I looked down at my watch, "11:08. The ship goes out at 11:30, and the bus takes twenty minutes on a good day, so-"

"Need a lift?" he cut me off and gestured toward his car. I stared at him blankly. Is he serious? Is he actually suggesting dropping me off at the hangar in his squad car? I mean, it could save me some time I could have spent idly waiting for a bus, and it's probably faster… Wait. Isn't he suppose to be working right now? Wouldn't he get in trouble if he was caught driving his kid to the airport while on the clock? On the other hand… My thought process was cut short as my dad put all my bags in the trunk and ushered me into the car.

"You might want to hold on to something," he said as he flipped on the police siren and put on his shades. Fearing the reason for that warning, my hands shot towards the handle and I braced myself for what I could only describe as the most intense car ride of my life. I didn't think it was possible, but we somehow survived and pulled up to the hangar after only ten minutes on the road.

"How much of that was legal?" I asked my dad as I caught my breath from the numerous near death experiences.

He took off his shades and looked at me, his green eyes giving me a cheeky stare. Do mine ever look like that?

"Today's the day, huh? You're actually going out there and becoming a hunter." Way to dodge the question. I asked him again, only to get the same type of evasion. "You sure you want to go through with this, Nate? I'm sure there are other things you could do with your set of skills." All jokes were gone from his voice; it was as cold and serious as his eyes had become. It's like he's testing to see if I'll hesitate. But I can't back down now. I won't.

"Yes, I'm sure. This has been my dream ever since I was a kid and it's one I intend to follow."

A huge grin broke upon his face. "Alright then. Just remember: this isn't just a dream anymore. This is your reality. Now, get out of this car before you miss the damn ship," he said, offering me his hand.

"Right. Love you, dad." I took his hand and shook it before pulling him in for a quick hug. After saying our goodbyes, I took my stuff out of the car and power-walked towards the front desk. Thanks to the police siren, all flights were delayed until they figured out why the police were there. Okay; this is _definitely_ abusing of the law's power, but I'm not gonna complain at this point. I explained my situation to the staff and thankfully they allowed me to board, even going as far as helping me with my luggage.

Once the commotion with the siren died down, the ship took off towards Beacon Academy, my home for the next 4 years.


	2. You Can (Not) Go

( _N POV_ )

I can't believe I actually made it aboard. I should really start looking into setting up an alarm; I don't think I can rely on my mom or dad to wake me up anymore. I wandered around the ship for a while (yes, wandered, this thing is pretty damn big), taking in all it had. It makes me wonder just how exactly this big hunk of metal is even flying in the first place. As if to answer my question, one of the hologram screens began talking about the latest technology being developed by the Schnee Dust Company. Right, Dust, that's how we're flying. That stuff is pretty damn incredible what with all the uses it's got, from powering this ship, household appliances, computers, to the tips of some of my arrows, it's become a pretty key part in our lives. I wonder what would happen if all the Dust ran out? Would there be war over what could possibly be left? And what would we fight with?

While I was having all these deep thoughts about a Dustless, post-apocalyptic world, my body reminded me of something I skipped doing back home; and it did so with great urgency. I looked around the ship in search of a bathroom, and once I did, I charged at it with nothing but sweet relief on my mind. What wasn't on my mind was that someone could be in there, which resulted in a head on collision with whoever was coming out. It felt like such a cartoonish moment, my glasses falling off adding to the silliness of this situation. I fell to the ground from the impact, disoriented from the crash.

"Hey!" Before I could assess what happened, a loud voice came from the victim of my high-speed bathroom rush, "Who do you think you are? Huh?"

She sounds really mad, I should apologize before it gets any worse.

"I'm so-"

"Do you know who I am?" she demanded. I looked up to see a white figure standing over me, who I assumed was the person yelling at me. I couldn't really make out what they looked like without my glasses.

"Well, not really, but-"

"What!?" She cut me off yet again. "How could you not know who I am?!" This girl sounds more upset that I don't know who she is; what important person would be riding to Beacon in a ship with a bunch of students? Was she related to someone really important? Or maybe she's a prodigy from one of the fighting schools? Or maybe-

"Hello?! Are you even listening to me?"

She breaks me away from my thoughts; okay, this mystery girl is really starting to get on my nerves. "Yes, I am. Look, I said I was sorry, okay? What else do you want?" I get off the ground and look at her head on.

"Don't you talk to me like that!" She was furious. "What are you even doing here, did you get on the wrong ship or something?"

"The hell's that supposed to mean?" I yell back. Who exactly does this girl think she is? Our little face-off drew in a small crowd of students. Fantastic, this is just how I envisioned my perfect first day.

"In case you didn't know, this ship is headed to Beacon, a school to fight monsters, and you don't look like you can fight." Don't go there… "But don't worry, I'm sure you can take a ship to Vale before the comic store closes."

Okay. That's it.

"Well excuse me, princess, some of us don't have the luxury of daddy buying us whatever we want!"

There was complete silence, both from her and from those watching. The girl who had not been able to shut up just a while ago now stood absolutely quiet. Haha! I got her! A smile crept on my face as I saw the blurry face of shock from the loud-mouthed girl. Her shocked face soon went back to anger, but it wasn't the same as the one before. Uh-oh, maybe that wasn't the most appropriate comeback. Maybe I can take i-

- _Slap-_

Nope, too late. Before I could even think about apologizing, she swung her palm across my face at full force. At least, I hope it was full force. I don't want to imagine her full strength, if that's the case. The girl glared daggers at me, or at least I think she did, and walked away. Great, I haven't even set foot in the school and I'm already on somebody's shit list. Good job, me. I sighed and absent-mindedly rubbed my cheek, still stinging from the hit. Right, I should probably start looking for my glasses, they should be around here somewhere. I knelled down and started looking around the floor when I hear another girl's voice, "I see you've met the heiress; here." I look up and see someone was handing me my glasses.

"Thanks." This one seems nice; please don't let her be like that last one. I grab my glasses and put them on, getting a good look of this girl. She had wavy auburn hair that reached past her shoulders, light brown eyes, and wore a dark yellow, hooded coat. She looks like the spitting image of a mage from one of my fantasy books, except without the pointy hat. Was it mages that wore pointy hats? No, it was wizards. Then what did mages wear? Not-so pointy hats?

"You okay?" she said, waving her hand in my face.

"Oh sorry, I spaced out for a moment. I can figure out this hat thing later."

"What?"

"…I said that hat part out loud, didn't I?"

She giggled; this is going infinitely better than with that last girl. I couldn't help myself from snickering at my own slip up.

"Anyways, you shouldn't worry too much about what Weiss said, she likes to put people down even when she doesn't know them." So, that girl from before is named Weiss. Huh, what important person in Atlas is named Weiss? Wait. Don't tell me.

"You said she was an heiress, right? Heiress of what exactly?"

"The Schnee Dust Company, of what else would Weiss Schnee be?"

Chills ran across my body and I started to feel faint. Not only did I manage to make someone hate me before even landing at Beacon, she's the heiress to one of the largest Dust companies in Remnant. The future superpower of Dust called me a weak nerd. I called her a spoiled daddy's girl.

"Are you okay? You're looking really pale." The auburn haired girl asked me. She's looking at me as if I'm about to pass out on the spot. Okay, Nathan, relax, don't stress this girl out, too. "Yea, just a bit of motion sickness. I'll be okay."

"Oh, these might help with that," she said as she reached into her bag, pulled out a container of pills, and handed me some, "I get sick while flying too, so my mom gave me these for the trip."

God, this girl is so nice, why couldn't I crash into her instead?

"Don't you need those?" I don't really need the meds, as the sickness isn't from being on the ship.

"No, it's okay, I haven't felt anything after the initial take off, so I don't think I need them." she smiled, "So, take it. I love helping people out, so you'll be helping me by helping yourself."

…

This girl is a saint.

I took the pills and pretended to swallow them, pocketing them afterwards; never know when I might need them. "Thanks a bunch, umm…"

"Rory." She said with a tilt of her head.

Nice, friendly, and cute; seriously, why couldn't it have been you?

"Well, Rory, I'm Nathan. It's nice to meet you, and thanks again for all your help."

"Don't mention it. Anyways, my friends are probably wondering where I am, so, I'll see you around, okay?" She gave me a bright smile and headed off to another section of the ship.

"Y-yeah, see ya later."

Okay, let's recap. I haven't set foot at Beacon yet and so far I've made one enemy, and one friend. Well, you can't win them all, I guess. Maybe that incident wasn't so bad; why did it happen again? My bladder quickly responded to my question with pure agony. Riiiiiiight, that's why. I went into the bathroom slowly, not wanting to cause another accident, and prepared myself for the opening of the Nathan Forrest water park.

After paying the park's water bill, I exited the bathroom to see that everyone was heading out of the ship. Did we land already? How long was I in there? Hopefully no one got the wrong idea, I don't want anyone to think I'm… handsy. I followed the wave of students off the ship, and finally got my first real look at the school. There's a really long and spacious courtyard, and it leads up to the school. The school itself is quite large and looks an awful lot… like a… castle. It looks like a castle.

A castle.

A fucking castle.

Oh my god.

It's sooooo cool! I can't believe I'm going to be here for the next four years of my life! It looks like it came straight out of a book! I ran to the edge of the school and looked out towards the city. This is insane, I can't believe this is real! It's like I'm in one my stories! I'm gonna be able to go on my own adventures! I headed back into the courtyard, my mind lost in wonder. This school's function is to train future warriors to protect the world from the creatures of Grimm. Oooh, maybe I'll meet some would-be knights here. My train of thought was interrupted by the smell of vomit, which seemed to be coming from the blonde boy just now coming out of a ship. Aside from a white chestpiece and shoulder guards, he was wearing a black hoodie and blue jeans; he looked very pale and weak, clenching his stomach. Yikes, it looks like I'm not the only one who had a bad time on their trip here, wish I could help him out. Wait, I still have the pills that Rory gave me; she did say she wanted to help people. But, what if he thinks I'm a weirdo or something? I mean, what kind of person just walks up to strangers and offers them medicine? C'mon, me, you won't be able to make any friends if you keep making excuses for yourself. Just do it. I hesitated a bit before heading towards him. I really hope he's friendly.

"Hey." I said as I tapped him on the shoulder.

He jumped from the tap and turned around, "Oh, uh, hi."

This guy seems harmless enough, thank god. "You okay? You look sick." I probably should mention the smell, but I have a feeling he must know.

"Oh I'm fine, just motion sickness," he chuckles weakly.

"Uh-huh, well, I got something that can help with that." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pills, "Here."

He looked at me and the pills skeptically, a reasonable response when someone you don't know comes up to you and offers you something they pulled out of their pockets. I need to say something so he'll trust me.

"Relax, I got these from a girl back on the ship. They're totally safe." That made it sound even worse. I should really think things over before I say them.

He seemed even less convinced that I meant no harm, until his gut reminded him of its current situation. The boy took the pills from my hand and swallowed them, albeit while shaking. He looked pretty surprised when his stomach pain went away and nothing else happened.

"See? Totally fine. I'm Nathan, by the way."

"Jaune, and thanks." He extended his hand towards me with a warm smile. Well, his suspicions sure died quick; I guess he just trusts others easily.

I shook his hand, "No problem." I think I'm getting the hang of this.

- _Boom_ -

"Ummm, what was that?"

"I'm not entirely sure." I looked over to where the explosion came from and saw a cloud of smoke, as well as two people inside of it and one outside. One was a girl in a red hood and the other one was a familiar, white-clad girl. Oh, that can't be good. The other was a girl in black, but she didn't seem like she was involved in the explosion.

"You think they're okay?"

"I don't think that explosion did much to them." After all, they are protected by their aura. "But I think that red girl might need help soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"Call it a hunch." True enough, when we looked back the red-hooded girl was alone and dropped to the ground. Jaune quickly went over to her and I followed in suit. This might actually be a good way to leave him, after all I want to go see the rest of this school, but I don't want to leave the guy alone. We reached the girl and Jaune stood over her, extending his arm.

"Hey. I'm Jaune."

"Ruby." she replied and she took Jaune's hand. She looks really young; maybe she was able to skip some years in school? If that's the case, she must be really strong.

"Aren't you that guy that threw up on the ship?" she said with a snort.

That's my cue to leave. "Hey Jaune, I'm gonna go. I'll see you around." I started walking towards the school, leaving the two behind.

"Bye Nathan, thanks for your help."

I gave him a small wave, not breaking my stride. I couldn't see it, but I'm pretty sure he had smile on his face. I looked forward at the towering building in front of me. Let's see what else this place has in store for me.

* * *

 **Hello readers, WindRanger here. I wanted to get some things out before I continue the story. First off, the main cast for the story are all going to be OCs, but** **the main cast of the show will still exist and might show up from time to time. The main focus is team RKNE, so I will avoid using any story** **arcs from the canon that mainly revolve around the other teams. Second, I intend for this story to reach up until the events at the end of volume one, unless of course I get very into this, which will most likely be the case. Lastly, I will be doing my best to update as frequently as I can. Any criticism, good or bad, is accepted and thank you for reading. I hope to see you in the next chapter.**


	3. This is (Not) the Beginning

( _N POV_ )

Whoa, some people are creative. I walked into the main campus of Beacon and the first thing to catch my attention are the weapons some people carry around. Twin gunblades, a retractable halberd, claw submachineguns, an electric chain sword, and… is that a machete with a scope? My eyes followed the weapon to see if I'd made an error in judgment, but sure enough, there it was. A scoped machete. How does that work? What purpose would a scope have on a blade so short? Does it serve some tactical purpose? Does it shoot out the blade? How would you get it back? Aghh, now my head hurts. Seeing all the crazy tricked-out weapons these people have is making me feel self-conscious about my own. My school was pretty old-fashioned and had a strict guideline for how we could forge our weapons. " _True victory is obtained through skill, not through power_ ", was the motto they preached. That didn't really stop students from designing some crazy weapons, but none of them even came close to some of these. My weapon, Zephyr, is just a folding recurve bow. She's an amazing one, sure, I designed her to be the perfect weapon for me and my fighting style; I even gave her a reinforced, lightweight frame, but she's still just a bow. I also have my daggers, but they really aren't special. Hell, I'd say they're pretty situational. Maybe I should look into modifying them here, there's probably a weapons workshop somewhere on campus.

I kept walking through the mass of students, eyeing their weapons for any ideas I could take, when I noticed a crowd forming around some guy. Wonder what he's got that so interesting? Slipping my way through the other students, I made it to the front. Maybe he's got some really insane weapon, like a baseball bat rocket launcher? Or a… no. The actual reason was far more disappointing than I imagined. It was just a black-haired guy performing street magic.

Goddammit.

Why are people so impressed by this stuff? It's all just a matter of watching the magician carefully to figure out how it works. I took a better look at the magician. He had a gelled-up fauxhawk with orange tips along the front, and he was wearing a blue button-up shirt with an orange undershirt, khakis, and tan worker boots.

"Hello, my lovelies! How are all of you doing today?" he asked us. The crowd erupts in cheer, a good portion of the cries belonging to girls. I sighed. Well, I might as well see what he's got.

"Alright, for my next trick, I will need a volunteer." He scanned through the crowd and pointed someone out, "You! Come over here, sweetie."

He pointed to a blonde girl with very long hair. She wore wear a pair of black short shorts, a brown belt with some sort of white cloth hanging from it, brown leather boots, and light brown vest covering a yellow tube top that really accentuates her… assets.

The guy gestured her over and pulled out a pack of cards. Card tricks? Really? Is that his plan? I considered leaving this terrible display of sleight of hand, but part of me wanted to see if he messed up in front of all these people. He pulled out the cards, shuffled them a bit and handed them to the girl.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Yang."

"Oooo, I like it. Well, Yang, I want you to pick any two cards you want and memorize them."

She searched through the deck, picked out the ace of hearts and the two of diamonds, and looked at the cards.

"Your eyes are really something," he said with a wink.

UGGGGGHHHH, COME THE FUCK ON DUDE. This guy is so bad. I could hear some girls in the crowd whispering and commenting on his looks and voice, calling it sexy and what not. Why do some girls just go gaga over this kind of guy? Is it instinctual?

The blonde, can't recall her name, scoffed and said, "Um, thank you." Well, at least she doesn't seem to be falling for his game. I'm pretty sure that's not the first time someone's complimented her "eyes". She put the two cards back in the deck and handed it back to him.

"Thanks, babe," he gave her a large grin and took the deck. Okay, time to see what "mind-blowing" and "amazing" trick this guy's gonna do. He rolled up his sleeves and started to shuffle the deck wildly and vigorously, going at a speed that was impressive on its own. Most people would've lost track of where the cards are, but I've seen my fair share of this kind of trick; the cards are marked from the start. You see the markings of the card the other person picks, and when you get the cards back just make sure you move the cards to where you are going to pull them out. He finished shuffling and then he began to cough. Loudly.

Is he okay?

He kept coughing for a bit, then covered his mouth with his hand and seemingly coughed up two cards. "Are these your cards?" he asked with a smug grin. The girl grabbed them out his hand; they were the ace of hearts and the two of diamonds.

What.

The crowd cheered at the sight and the blonde stood there in awe and confusion. How the hell did he do that? The cards were still in the deck, how did he pull them out without me noticing? Was it possible this guy was actually the real deal? Could I be in the presence of a true mage?!

No.

A real mage wouldn't waste their time performing cheap parlor tricks, especially such a seemingly simple one. Something's wrong with this, and I want to know what it is.

"Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind. And how about some love for my gorgeous assistant?" He put his arm around her and beckoned the crowd, which answered in full. The girl didn't look all that comfortable with his straightforwardness; real smooth there, Casanova. Alright, time to see what's really up his sleeve.

"Oh, my gosh, that was so awesome, how did you do that?!" I put on the best surprised face I could manage; hopefully he doesn't see through it.

"A true magician never reveals his secrets, kid." Well, he's convinced. His voice exuded cockiness, but it wasn't irritating; it was damn near pleasant. Maybe those girls weren't completely wrong about this guy's appeal. He turned to the blonde "So, Yang, if you aren't too busy I -"

"Can you do it again? Please."

He looked at me, annoyed with my insistence, "I don't think so." Shit. I'm losing him.

"C'mon, I'm sure we'd all love to see again." I turn to face the crowd, "Am I right? Who wants to see him do it again, huh?" Many students had already begun to leave, but luckily a group of girls agreed with me and started asking for an encore. He looked over towards the group and smirked. Got him.

"Well, guess I can't leave my fans wanting more, so, I'll do one real quick." He took his arm off of Yang and pulled out his cards. "And since you were the first to ask, kid, I'll let you experience Kenneth Kenway's magic first hand," he said as he handed me the deck.

"Oh, wow, thank you." Ugh, this adoring fan thing is really getting on my nerves, but I got what I need. Now, let's see what we're dealing with. I looked at the cards in my hand, and, sure enough, they were marked; that solves one mystery. I have to admit though, the technique these were marked with is very subtle and takes practice to use. This guy might not be smart, but he's a clever one. I sorted through the deck and picked out the king and the ace of spades; these two probably have a big enough tell.

And now for the more, _unorthodox_ way of finding the truth. I adjusted my glasses and focused on the cards. My vision became black and white, except for the two cards, which glowed a bright blue color. This is probably a very bad use of my Semblance, but I need to be sure that my suspicions aren't wrong. I put the cards back in the deck and handed it back.

He took the cards and quickly began to shuffle them. It was slower than before, but that didn't mean it was a moderate pace. After a bit of shuffling, the cards were still in the deck; so far so good.

"Alright, now be amazed as I- A-Ah-" Ah?

"Achoo!" He sneezed into his free hand, and when he uncovered it, they were right there. The ace and king of spades. No way. But they didn't leave the deck! I double checked the cards and the deck; the ace and king were still in the deck. The glowing cards, the ones I had picked out, were still in the deck. Ohhhh, I get it.

"Are these your cards?"

"Nope," I said, as I snatched the deck from his hand and pulled out the exact same cards he held, "these are."

He froze.

I showed the cards to the remainder of the crowd, who's expressions ranged from confusion to disappointment. I put them back into the deck and placed it in his hand; my work here is done. Realization soon hit them, and they began to leave.

"Hey wait! C'mon, don't go!" He tried to get them to stop, but they ignored him and kept walking. The cards in his hands fell to the ground, the two he sneezed out disappearing before they even reached the floor. So, that's how he did it. Is that his Semblance? Oh, well, it doesn't matter.

I checked my watch; it was almost time for the introduction speech. I should head over there.

I patted the now exposed con artist on the back and said, "Sorry for blowing down your house of cards," before following the last couple of students towards one of the buildings, feeling extremely proud of my one liner. I'm sure he'll be alright.

…

I reached the amphitheater, which was already full of the other first year students. So, these are people who are willing to risk their lives to protect this world. Everyone has trained hard and persevered through a lot in the hopes of becoming a hunter or huntress, and here they are, ready to achieve their goal. I smiled; maybe we'll be able to make a difference.

"Ahem," a voice coughed from the stage. It was Professor Ozpin, the school's headmaster. Looks like it's starting.

"I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people."

"But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction." Huh?

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." With that, he stepped away from the microphone and a light-blonde woman walked up to the mic.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"

Well, that was demotivating. That wasn't exactly the kind of speech one would normally give to new students of a school; is he trying to psyche us out or something? The people around me began to move out towards the ballroom and I quickly followed suit. I'll think about the deeper meaning in Ozpin's words after a good shower.

…

Okay… this is definitely not something I expected.

When they told us we would be gathering in the ballroom, I expected for us to be separated there and then be sent to some sort of newbie barrack. But actually, we're all just going to sleep in the ballroom.

Uh-huh.

What's the point of this again? Is meeting people in pajamas supposed to help form strong relationships with others? Or is this the school's form of hazing? I sighed and put on a green hoodie over my black shirt and olive green pajama shorts. Let's hope the night is short. Heading into to the ballroom, I began to scan the room for a place to set up, eventually deciding on a corner in the far end of the room. As I walked over, a couple of guys began to flex and playfully roughhouse with each other, all while being shirtless. Is this what guys normally do in sleepovers? Or are they doing this for a reason? I looked over to where they were facing and saw the girl from earlier today, Yang, very openly checking out the topless boys. Well, she sure is honest; I wonder if any other girls are staring? I absent-mindedly opened up my jacket, only to see her face change to one of disgust.

Ow. I quickly zipped up and looked back towards where I was headed and saw Jaune, in a onesie. Oh. My. God. So, that's what she saw. Not sure if I should feel good that it wasn't me that turned her off or feel bad for her having to witness this. I made a mental note to not talk to him until tomorrow and continued towards the corner. I set up the sleeping bag I was given and gave the room another once-over. I had a pretty good view of the entire ballroom from here; not bad, good choice, me. I spotted Rory pretty close by; she was wearing a yellow button-up shirt with small grey cat faces all over and matching pants.

So cute.

…

I should stop staring before she sees me.

Not too far from where she was, the guy from earlier today, Ken or something, was chatting up some girl. Glad to see I didn't destroy his confidence. I crawled into my bag and began to think about Ozpin's speech from earlier.

 _Knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step._

I smiled; I made it. I actually made it into Beacon. Tomorrow marks the first day towards achieving my dream. Time to leave my mark on this world. With that I took off my glasses and fell asleep.

…

Alarms. Now I remember why I didn't use them. I woke up to a huge cacophony of different alarms students had set up. I desperately tried to drown them out with my pillow, but the sound only grew louder as other alarms went off. Maybe if I don't move, they'll go away. Sadly, that wasn't the case, as when someone turned off their alarms others went off and people began to move around, creating even more noise.

"Ugh."

I groaned in defeat as I forced my body to leave its comfort. Why is it that any bed, no matter how uncomfortable at first, always feel like heaven when you have to get out of it? I got changed, ran through the morning routine, this time putting on my contacts, and went to have breakfast. The dining hall had a huge spread of food, ranging from simple cereals to pastries, from eggs to meats; there's even a juice bar. It felt more like a fancy hotel buffet than a school breakfast. I grabbed some fruit with a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat; I want to try more food, but going through initiation stuffed doesn't sound like a smart move. I should also make sure my equipment is at peak performance, I haven't changed my bow's string in a while or checked to see if my blades have dulled.

After finishing my breakfast, I headed towards the locker room where we put our equipment yesterday. Reaching my locker, I opened it and started gearing up. I pulled out my daggers and checked their blades for any damage. My main one was a straight, 11 inch, double-edged dagger with a black leather handle; nothing really out of the ordinary and pretty standard for a dagger. On my off-hand I used a blade of similar size and shape as my other one, but one of its sides was segmented, kind of like a comb, making it more of a sword-breaker. Their blades are pretty equal in length, roughly 6 inches, so the range on them is pretty bad. Of course, I really don't plan to let my enemies get so close easily. No, they'll have to get past the barrage of arrows I'll be shooting their way. My lips tugged into a grin as I sheathed the daggers on my hips and pulled out my quivers.

One of them was a large green ranger-style quiver with a long pocket on its right side. It holds twenty 3-blade broadhead arrows, all arranged around a jet black centerpiece. The other quiver was a smaller brown bandit-style leather quiver which was divided into three segments that held 3 arrows each. They were standard flat broadheads but unlike those in the larger quiver, these were Dust-tipped: three fire, three ice, and three lightning. Not exactly the cheapest form of ammunition, but pretty damn useful for when I need that extra kick. All arrows were slotted inside the quivers and the quivers themselves had a cover for the arrows not to fall out. I sat down on a bench and started checking the fletches of each arrow, replacing any that were damaged or bent, slowly tuning out of my surroundings.

I was down to the last arrow, when something bumped into my back, making me drop the arrow, and a familiar voice snapped me out of my daze.

"What the!? I don't need to break out of my shell, that's absolutely-"

"Ridiculous!" another voice interrupted, or completed, the girl's sentence. I knew that voice; it belonged to Jaune. I turned around to see Jaune walking away and Yang standing next to a short redhead in a red hood. Wait, isn't that the same red-hooded girl from the courtyard yesterday? I think her name was Ruby. Now that I think about it, weren't these two together last night? Maybe they know each other...

Yang looked towards me. "Sorry about that."

"Hm? Oh, no harm done." I replied, picking up the arrow from the ground and putting in its quiver.

"Hey, you're Nathan right?" the redhead asked.

"Yes?" She remembered my name? I never told her it; but Jaune did say it once when I left. Did they talk about me?

"You know him, Ruby?" Yang turned her attention towards the redhead. So, I did remember her name, that's good.

"Yeah. He was with Jaune before he helped me out and then left. He gave Jaune some medicine for his motion sickness that really helped him out." Hey, two for two. I am on a roll today! She turned her attention to me and said, "You look different without your glasses."

"I get that a lot." I said, adjusting my glasses with left index finger. The glasses I am not wearing. So, I basically just pushed on my nose bridge with my finger for no reason. Thanks, muscle memory. The two girls snickered at the sight. I rolled my eyes at them and closed my quivers.

"Well, I'm Ruby, it's nice to meet you! And this is my sister, Yang."

"Oh, we've met," I responded, as I strapped on the green quiver over my left shoulder. After I put on the second one, I need to restring my bow and give it a few test pulls.

"Yeah, he's the guy that called out that magic dude I told you about."

"Wow, really? How'd you do it?" Ruby asked me excitedly.

I finished setting the quiver on my lower back and replied, "Once you've seen tricks like that, you know what to look for." I walked towards my locker and pulled out my bow, "and I got pretty good eyes." I pressed a button on the grip and the top limb shot up, opening the large black bow.

The young girl's eye sparkled as she saw the weapon. "Whooooa, that's so cool! What's the range on it? How much is the draw weight? How does it open it up? Is it spring-loaded or is it magnetic-propelled? What does it transform into? Is it a-"

"Easy there, sis, don't forget to breath," Yang said as she pulled Ruby's hood over her face. They seem really close; reminds me of my relationship with my little sister.

I smiled as I eyed the bow's string. It's a bit worn out, but other than that it still looks pretty good. I'll still replace it, there's no need to tempt fate, but there's no sense in throwing it away when I can keep it for practice. "Well, first off, Zephyr doesn't really transform into anything, she's just a bow." I said as I stepped through the bow and began unstringing it, "That being said, she's damn good bow. Sixty-eight inches long, high performance limbs, retractable center stabilizer, accurate for up to 100 yards, and, with a 70 pound draw weight, she's fast, strong, stable, accurate, and most importantly, deadly." After taking off the bowstring, I opened the side pocket on the back quiver and pulled out another string, putting the old one in the same pocket.

"Wow, that's a lot for a bow. But aren't some of those things you mentioned only important in competitive shooting?" Ruby asked. This girl knows her stuff.

"Yes and no. Sure, stability and long range are more important in target shooting, but that doesn't mean they have no place in hunting. I designed Zephyr to be the perfect bow, something that excels in both combat as well as in competitions."

"You do archery competitions?" Yang asked, rejoining the conversation.

"Yep, I was in an archery team back in Atlas. I was actually one of the top shooters there, 'til I got banned from competing that is."

"Why'd you get banned?"

"Something about Zephyr being "illegal" and giving me an "unfair advantage" above the other shooters. Personally, I don't think they liked me very much. Maybe I just was too cool for them." I replied with a shrug. Ruby snorted at the comment and both girls shared a small laugh. It's been a while since I've talked about Zephyr with anyone. I grinned and went back to restringing my weapon.

"What about you girls? What are your weapons?" I asked them while setting up the string. After this I'll give her a few test pulls, slip on my shooting glove, and I'm good to go.

"Well, I got this thing." Ruby put her hand in her locker and pulled out a strange red and black rectangle. The object in question soon opened up into a scythe, doubling in size, the blade hitting the ground with a loud thud. I stood there, frozen in shock, jaw dropped in awe. That's a big-ass scythe; how can someone so little manage a weapon so big?! I wanted to react, say something in response to what was front of me, but all I could manage were short, inconsistent gasps of breath.

"This is Crescent Rose," she said with a smile.

Still unable to speak, I began to take in the details of the weapon. Its curve blade was almost as long as Ruby was and had a hook on the back end. The handle of the blade was mostly a black rod with a small blade on its end, with the exception of its middle which had a red scoped rifle design with a matching red magazine.

"Why does it have a scope?" I asked weakly, finally able to make words.

"That's because it's also a high-impact sniper rifle," she responds as the blade retracts into itself, folding into a large barrel and the end of the handle folds into a stock. She gives the rifle a quick cock to validate her claim.

"That's… awesome!" I put my bow on the bench and walked over to Ruby. "A scythe and a sniper rifle as weapons are already cool on their own, but a sniper-scythe? That's insane! It sounds so ridiculous and impractical, like it'll fall apart before you can even shoot it. But, here it is, and holy shit does it look cool! Who designed it?"

"This girl right here," she replied with a big grin on her face.

"Seriously? You designed this beauty all by yourself?"

"Yup! I got a little help from my Uncle but other than that it was all me."

"Amazing. You got a hell of a creative mind, Ruby. If I need any help with my weapons, I'll come to you." I grinned and extended my fist toward her.

"Sure thing, Nathan, I'm always up to tinkering with weapons."

We bumped fists and I turned to Yang, who seemed to have been listening in on another conversation.

"So, what about you, Yang? What's your weapon?"

She turned back towards where we were, hands on her hips. "Hm? Oh, I got these puppies." She brought her hands up to her chest and formed them into fists, the yellow bracelets on her wrists expanding into metal gauntlets.

A bombshell blonde who punches monsters for a living. "Nice," I said while nodding.

"They're also shotguns!" Ruby added.

A bombshell blonde who punches monsters for a living with _shotgun fists_. "Hot."

Yang opened her mouth as if to say something when a voice from the PA drew our attention:

" _Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately._ "

"Crap, I haven't finished gearing up. You two go on ahead, I'll see you later." I rushed over to my locker, put on the glove and grabbed Zephyr, her string hanging from the bottom limb. Are you kidding me?! I don't have time for this! I closed the bow and hastily slipped the string on the top groove; hopefully this works. After doing one last pat down to see if everything was where it was supposed to be, I headed out towards the cliff.

...

We were met by the headmaster and the lady from yesterday, and once all the students arrived at the top, they organized us into a single line along the edge. I got placed on the far end, the furthest point away from the instructors. Even here I get the short end of the stick, lovely. Everyone stood on metal tiles, one under every person's feet. They bounced a bit when stepped on, kind of like a spring; I made small jumps to see if I wasn't just imagining it and, sure enough, the tile did bounce. Spring-loaded tiles? Looks like we are literally being thrown into the action. Great. And, judging from where I'm standing, I'll probably be the last one _. Great_. Ozpin cleared his throat and began to speak.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

The woman next to him spoke up, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Whoa, what? Well, I hope I get someone I know.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Of course, a team should be able compensate for each other's weaknesses.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"Excuse me?!" I screamed. The first person I see is gonna be my partner the whole time I'm here?! What kind of pairing process is that?! I looked down the line of people; Jaune, Ruby and Yang were together on the opposite side of where I was. Rory was more or less in the middle.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die," Ozpin said. "You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um, sir-" Jaune spoke up.

Ozpin cut him off, "Good! Now, take your positions."

Okay, so, what I'm gonna do is watch where the people I know fly off to and once I'm out, I'll head there. That way I can-

Before I could finish the thought, the tile at my feet shot up and hurled me into the forest. And thus began my journey, flying out of control into a forest full of monsters.

* * *

 **This took a lot longer than I thought it would. Next chapter might take a bit to write as midterms are coming up. Will Nathan be able to land unscathed? Who will be his partner? Will it be Rory? Will it be Kenneth? Why am I asking these questions instead of writing the next chapter? Most of these questions will be answered in the next chapter, This Can (Not) Happen. Until then, thanks for reading; take care guys.**


	4. This Can (Not) Happen

**,A.N.: So, this chapter was supposed to be posted three weeks ago. I had finished the chapter and all I had to do was give it to my editor so she could proofread it. But, as fate would have it, my computer died on me before I could send it and I had to restart it. I lost the whole chapter and had to rewrite it, which was honestly more difficult than starting from scratch. I'm really sorry for almost a month of inactivity; now, on with the story!**

( _K POV. Launch_ )

"Now, take your positions."

After hearing those words, I dropped down to more relaxed stance, putting my hands into my pockets. I turned my head over to the right to look at the white-haired girl standing next to me. She was standing sideways with her left arm extended forward, rapier in hand, and her right arm craned upwards behind her head. She looked over to her left and caught my gaze. I flashed a smile at her with a wink, but she just rolled her eyes, turning her attention back forward. Pfft, whatever, girlie. Giving a small shrug, I looked back to see that the others immediately to my left were being launched; looks like I'm up. I bent my knees and was soon catapulted into the forest. The force of those tiles was nothing to joke about; if you weren't ready for it when they opened up, you were in for quite the ride. Of course, I didn't need to worry about that. After all, I was gonna be one of the greatest hunters this school had ever seen.

Soaring through the air, I started looking for a good way to land, settling on a pretty large tree just up ahead. I took my hand out of my pocket, unclipped the yo-yo on my waist, and began to spin it next to me. Once I was close enough to the tree, I threw the shell of the weapon at one of the top branches, letting it wrap itself around the branch until it hooked on. Using the force of the fall, I swung around the branch two times before landing upright on it. Nailed it. I unhooked the yo-yo from the branch, reeled it in, and began making my way down the tree when the words of the headmaster came to mind:

... _the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years._

A grin formed on my face; here's to getting a cutie to work with. Maybe I'll get a tough girl that I'll have to conquer? Or a smart one that's looking to cut loose and have the time of her life? Ooh, maybe I'll get a totally innocent girl that will melt every time I talk to her? I wouldn't mind if she's good in a fight either; after all, we are gonna be combat partners, and if she's bad, it'll make _me_ look bad. She doesn't have to be strong; she can be one of those people that trick their opponents to win or whatever. I don't really care what she does in a fight. As long she lets me do my thing and stays out of the way, we'll be good.

I started making my way north towards the meeting point, not seeing any monsters on the way. This wasn't really how I pictured this forest, which was supposedly infested with Grimm, to be. The walk eventually took me to a denser part of the woods. The kind that screams, "Danger! Danger! Turn back!" Definitely the kind of place I want to go through. However, the path through the dark part of the forest was just as uneventful as the one getting here. I was about to give up hope when I caught a glimpse of something moving out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards it, but there was nothing there except some trees. I looked at the spot closely and something stood out in the shadows; a small mirage was gently swaying in the air, connected to a much larger invisible figure.

Oh? This could be interesting. I started playing with my yo-yo and kept walking forward, acting like I was unaware of whatever was tailing me. Eventually, I knelt down on the ground as if to tie my shoe, leaving my back completely exposed. C'mon buddy, you know you want to. Sure enough, the creature took the bait and ran out of its cover, ready to jump on me. I spun around on my heels and slammed the yo-yo on the left side of its face then jumped back, getting a good look at my stalker.

It was a large, panther-like Grimm, the top of its skull covered in a white, bone-like mask. The rest of its body was completely jet black, except for the plates of bone armor that ran across its spine. A Guenhwyvar. I raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Huh, I didn't expect a Guen here. You look pretty tough; how's about you help me warm up?" It roared, moving in to try and strike me again, but I just sidestepped out of its path and dug the heel of my boot in its side, which sent it tumbling.

"Awww, you're a friendly kitty, aren'tcha? Alright, then." I brought my left hand up toward its shoulder, and a shape began forming itself in my palm. The hand that used to be empty now held another yo-yo, completely identical to the one in my right hand. I gave the two a few spins at my sides before reeling them in, "Let's play!"

We charged at each other, closing the gap between us almost immediately. I brought my right yo-yo down on its head, resulting in a direct hit to its skull. I decided to go in for another strike, and swung the left yo-yo, aiming for its leg so I could pull it in and give it a good kick in the face. Unfortunately for me, the panther jumped back after the first hit, causing both the swing and the kick to miss entirely. It then pounced on me again, taking advantage of the fact that I was off-balance to knock me down to the ground. I was able to bring my arms up just in time to shield my face from the Grimm's claws as I kicked at its body repeatedly. After a couple of hits to its abdomen, I was able to bring my knees up to my chest and give it a good kick to the shoulders, throwing the beast off of me. I pushed myself off the ground and put some distance between us. A wry grin crept on my face, "This is gonna be fun."

I grabbed hold of my weapons and pressed the button they had on the outer shell; once pressed, they both began to hum slightly. I let the yo-yos unwind and started to spin them around me at a much faster pace than before. The Guenhwyvar ran towards me to strike as I reeled in the right yo-yo to be closer to me. Once the Grimm was close enough, I mounted the left one on the other string and brought them both together in an uppercut that landed square on its jaw. Using the momentum from the strike, I spun around and slammed both yo-yos across its face, backing up after the impact.

The panther pounced blindly, hoping to knock me down again and take a couple more free swipes at me. But I'm not about to fall for the same shit again; that's not how I roll. I met its pounce halfway and slid underneath it right before it could grab hold of me. As it flew overhead, I threw my weapons up, the strings wrapping themselves around the Grimm's neck until the shells tangled up with each other. It fell to the ground with a thud, snarled, and tried to turn towards me as I pulled on the strings and started to choke it. The beast scratched at its neck to try and free itself, but I just tightened the hold even more, causing it to let out a small whimper as the strings dug deeper and deeper into its neck.

"What's the matter? Cat's got your tongue?" I asked it with a big smile on my face. "That was fun, you were definitely better than I was expecting. Too bad it didn't last very long, but all good things must come to an end, I suppose," I said as I walked over to it, constantly tightening the strings; wouldn't want it to try anything in this positon. I stood in front of it and knelt down to meet it face to face, "Thanks for the practice. Bye-bye." I gave one final pull, the strings piercing through skin, muscle, and bone, eventually decapitating the Guenhwyvar.

The yo-yo in my left hand soon faded away, and I reeled in the one on my right, pressing its outer button again to turn off its high frequency. I began to move my head side to side and rolled my shoulders back; if all fights here are going to be like this, I'm in for a good time. I should start picking up the pace to the meeting point; the fight with the Guen held me up for a bit, and I still need to find a partner. Hopefully not all the hotties have partnered up yet, it would suck if I had to choose one from the stragglers that couldn't find anyone. I clipped the yo-yo back on my belt and continued heading north. I walked quite a distance without any Grimm, and just when I started to think that it was getting boring-

 _Boom_

Whoa, what was that? I turned my head over to where the explosion came from, only to hear what sounded like a dying pig squeal. They were both pretty loud, so whatever was making these sounds wasn't far away. Soon enough, another set of screeches filled the air. Uh-huh. You know, Kenn, the smart thing would be to ignore this and move on, but that's no fun, so let's go see what's up.

I started making my way towards where the sounds came from, and eventually came across their origin; three Boarbatusks were surrounding a cute redhead with a short sword in a small clearing. She had a white top, a brown leather skirt, and matching knee-high boots with stockings, all under a long, dark yellow overcoat. They had her pinned to a tree, but the look on her face was calm and confident, as if she had complete control over this battle. One of the boars spun itself into a ball and dashed towards her, but she simply rolled out of the way and let it run into the tree behind her. The impact caused the Boarbatusk to land upside down, exposing its weak spot, something that the girl took advantage of as she went up to it and drove her sword through its belly. After killing the first one, she quickly turned her attention back to the other ones, who were already moving in to strike.

Pretty? Check. Smart? Check. Good fighter? Check. Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Let's help her wrap this up. I walked up behind one of the remaining Grimm and, before it could fully register my presence, slammed my weapon onto its spine, a snap confirming its demise. I couldn't stop the grin that formed on my face. One hit, one kill. The last boar turned to see what was left of its friend and, once it saw what I had done, squealed and charged at me head on. I tossed the yo-yo's shell into my left hand, wrapped its string around my fingers and pulled, forming a tight line of string in front me. The boar tried to charge through the string to get to me, but it couldn't get past, squealing in frustration; they always underestimate how strong it is. I looked over towards girl and yelled, "Heads up!"

I stepped back, let the boar stumble forward, and gave it a roundhouse kick that sent it flying towards my new partner. She then proceeded to skewer it mid-flight, stopping its momentum completely. Damn, I really lucked out with this one. Once the boar fell off her blade, I clipped my yo-yo back on my hip and she sheathed her sword in her right sleeve, turning towards me with a smile, "Thanks for the help; they had me outnumbered for a while."

"Well, the hero does tend to show up to rescue the beautiful lady," I said, laying on the charm.

She chuckled at the comment, "Well, hero, I'm glad you showed up when you did. It looks like we're partners now, I'm…" The cheery look on her face faded away into one of worry, "Look out!"

I turned around to see what she was freaking out over, only to find myself face-to-face with a Beowulf that was moments away from slashing me right across the face. Oh, damn. I crossed my arm in front of me and braced for impact, but it never came. I opened my eyes to see that a thin, amber-colored screen had formed between me and the beast, whose strike had bounced off the shield. Soon after, a bolt of lightning came from behind me and pierced the wolf's head, toppling the now dead beast. What just happened? I turned around and saw my partner with her right arm extended towards where the Grimm was with some of her fingers bent. What the hell did she do?

"You okay?" The voice of the girl snapped me out of my stupor.

"Yeah, don't worry. It'll take a lot more than some dog to take me down." I replied, putting my hand in my pocket.

She gave me a skeptical look, "Really? Even if that dog snuck up behind you and was about to get a free hit?"

I scoffed, "Please, the Guen from earlier couldn't take me out alone; I doubt that Beowulf would've gotten anything after that first hit."

Her eyes widened, "You took out a Guenhwyvar all by yourself?" A smug grin formed on my face as I nodded in response. "Wow, that's impressive. It's surprising to meet someone who can already hunt such a strong Grimm on their own."

"Trust me, babe, I'm full of surprises." I said in a suave tone.

"Let's hope they're good ones," she responded quickly, seemingly unaware of the implications of my comment. "I'm Rory; it's nice to meet you." She extended her hand towards me and gave me a friendly smile.

I took her hand and looked her straight in the eyes, "Kenneth. I hope you and I can get to know each other a lot better." I put all the charm I could into those words, going as far as to add a wink at the end to make it clear.

She shook our hands. "Good, now let's head on out. We still have quite a bit to go before we reach the temple," she said in the same happy tone, completely unfazed by my advance, and then started walking away. What the hell? How can she not have reacted to that in the slightest? That was the most obvious I could've been without it being off-putting. Is she dense? Or is it possible that she's actively ignoring my flirting?

"Hey, you coming?" Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Oh. Yeah, let's go." I caught up with her and we continued making our way to our objective. I looked over at my new partner as we walked. She's not exactly what I envisioned to be my perfect partner, but she's not terrible. Rory seems more than capable of handling herself in a fight, she's not lacking in the looks department, and she seems like the type to make a lot of friends. Friends which I wouldn't mind meeting. At least I'm with someone like her and not some total loser.

( _N POV. Descent_ )

"FUCK. HOLY SHIT. THIS IS NOT OKAY. NOT OKAY," I screamed at the top of my lungs as I flew through the air above the Emerald Forest. I thought I was going to be the last one out, so I didn't get into a good position. But, as luck would have it, I was actually the _first_ one to get launched; and since, I wasn't ready for it, I was now spinning out of control as I fell into a Grimm-infested forest at high speed. During the spins, I began to notice that the space between me and the ground was closing. Oh, shit, I'm descending. Moving my body every which way, I was finally able to stop myself from spinning and face forward. Perfect, now to think of a way to land. Let's see, I can't just dig my daggers into a tree without risk of breaking them and/or dislocating my arms, and taking the force of the fall head-on does not sound like a good time. I could use _that_ but… No. I can't start relying on it for everything already; I'll figure out a way to land all by myself.

As if to remind me of the situation, my feet began to graze over the canopy of the trees; I was out of time. I need to do something now or I am going to _die_. Fuck it, looks I don't have a choice but to use it. I brought my arms to my sides and began to concentrate, a green glow forming within my jacket. Soon enough, light green veins began to appear in the inner fabric of the jacket, and gusts of wind formed themselves around me, slowing down my fall and keeping me airborne. After I had enough control over my flight, I began looking for a place to land, settling on a less dense part of the forest to my right. A strong gust of wind pushed me towards the area and, once I was close enough, another gust pushed me off the ground, stopping my momentum and allowing me to land perfectly fine. Once on the ground, I immediately fell to my knees and then onto my back from a combination of dizziness and mental exhaustion.

I brought my sleeve up to my face and pulled it inside out, revealing the Dust sewn into it. A defeated look formed on my face; it's only been one day since I got here, and I'm already starting to use this damn thing for every little thing. Great. Why haven't I gotten rid of it yet? I don't need it. I scoffed at my own thoughts; yeah, right. If I really didn't, I wouldn't have made it in the first place, and if I hadn't, I wouldn't be here now, would I? I covered my eyes with my hand and let out a sigh. Man, I really suck.

After a while of lying on the ground in a state of self-loathing, I got back on my feet. I shouldn't be wasting so much time when I need to be finding a partner. I stretched my arms and back a bit before making my way north. On the way, I started to think about who would be a good person to be partnered up with.

Well, for starters, there's Rory. She was so nice to me when we first met; only one other person has ever talked to me after I make a complete fool out of myself. She's friendly and seems like a really good person, the kind who would always have your back no matter what. I'd love to be partnered with her, I think we would make a good team together, which means she's probably already taken... right. Ok, up next is Jaune; he's... nice. He seems pretty trustworthy, and I have no doubt we'll be probably be good friends, but I don't think he'll be a good match for me. I'd like to have someone who can keep the monsters busy while I take the chance to shoot 'em down, and Jaune doesn't strike me as a stand-against-the-tide kind of guy. Then again, he might surprise me. I mean, he got into Beacon, so looks could be deceiving.

Let's see... Oh! There's Yang and Ruby. Those two were really fun and I got a serious kick-butt vibe from them. Having Ruby as a partner sounds like a blast and I wouldn't really mind if I got to be close to someone like Yang. I just hope that I can get along with whoever I end up with, and that they're not like the heiress; I'm not sure I'd be able to live with someone like that for four whole years. As I walked through the forest, I began to take in just how pretty it was. Light from the sun shined on the undisturbed nature, tree branches swayed in the breeze, their leaves rustling ever so slightly; it was so serene, like one of those moments in stories right before some random encounter. As if to provide to reality to my thought, I heard a faint growl coming closer to me. Oh, come _on_.

I took cover behind a nearby tree and started peering out, looking for the source of the sound. My vision soon went monochrome and zoomed in its direction until the creature in question came into view. It was a Ursa, and a small one at that. It looked like a cub that had probably separated from its pack by accident and gotten lost. I unhooked Zephyr from my back, keeping my eyes on the Grimm. There's maybe 20 yards of distance between us; an easy shot. Hitting it anywhere would probably kill it, but its heart and lungs are my best bet for a good, clean kill. The heart's a small target, so there's a good chance I could miss it if the bear moves, so lungs it is, then.

I reached over my shoulder to the quiver on my back as I pressed the release on the bow grip, opening the weapon. As the top limb shot up into positon, the string attached to it slipped out of the groove and flew back until it snapped at my inner thigh like a whip. I did my best to hold in my voice, letting out small harsh breaths as I vigorously shook my leg in an attempt to lessen the pain. This is why I should've been careful and taken my time to string my weapon! I could have easily stringed her the right way and made sure it was set correctly, but _nooo_. _I_ had to strike up a nice conversation with two girls and geek out over a cool scythe. I looked back towards where the Ursa was and saw that it was coming over towards where I was. It seems I wasn't as quiet as I thought I was and the monster figured out I was hiding here. Looks like I'm not getting a do-over.

I quickly folded Zephyr, put her on my back, and unsheathed my daggers, holding them parallel to my arms. Okay, Ursa's attack three times and then stop, so I'll take that chance and strike then. I ran towards the bear monster and met it halfway, ducking under its first strike and scraping its foreleg with the teeth of my sword-breaker. That's one. It swung at me with its other foreleg and then moved in for a grab, but I was able to back away from both attacks. Now! When I stepped back from the grab, I flipped my blade forward and launched myself at the monster, aiming for its throat. I got in really close, and just when the dagger was about to make contact, the beast brought its forelegs outwards and swatted me away with the back of its right paw. The blade fell out of my hand as I flew to the side and landed face down on the ground; maybe I shouldn't be using a monster manual as a reliable reference for real life combat.

A shadow cast itself above me and I immediately rolled out of there, barely able to avoid the two paws that were being slammed on the ground I was just on. I need to go on the defensive if I want to make it out of this. Once I got back on my feet, I switched the sword-breaker into my left hand and dropped into a more grounded stance with my arms crossed in front of my chest. The Ursa charged at me, but I stood my ground; I needed to time this right. It got right in my face and, as soon as it attacked, I ducked over to its right side and ran the edge of the dagger across its body, leaving a deep wound. It didn't seem enough to stop the beast, however, as it turned towards me and took another swing. It missed by a mile, but it wasn't about to give up, and so it started flailing its forelegs at me, fishing for a hit.

I dodged all it threw at me, biding my time for the wound to take its toll on the monster, and, sure enough, the swipes started getting slower and more sluggish as time went on. This thing is reaching its last breaths. Let's see if I can end this quickly. I shifted the dagger so that the blade was facing forward, and waited for the right opportunity, which came in the form of a missed backhand swing that left it completely open. I threw out my left arm to deliver a wide slash across the Ursa's chest, using the torque from the slash to twist my body and do a backflip to create some distance between us. When I was back on my feet, I thrusted myself at the Grimm again, this time aiming for the heart. The monster decided that it wasn't going down without a fight and got ready to swat me away again.

"Not this time, buddy!" I taunted as the green veins in my jacket lit up. A strong surge of wind jetted out and propelled me forward, shoving the weapon deep into its chest before it could counter-attack me. The monster gave a pained whimper and went limp as I pushed it off the ground, providing a thud as its corpse hit the ground.

I… I did it. I did it, I won!

"Wooo!" I raised my arms in the air and let out a cheer. I can't believe I actually beat it in close quarters! My knife play was so bad back home, I rarely won any sparring matches when I had to use them. It got to the point where I decided to keep them around as more of a backup in case anything happened to my bow, but maybe I can start considering them as an asset. Awesome.

I walked over towards where I had dropped my dagger, picked it up, and sheathed both blades; let's take this chance to restring Zephyr too. I opened her up, took off the string, lowered her to the ground, and set it properly. I went through all the steps this time, even checking the string to see if it snapped anywhere, and once it was on, I gave it a few test pulls to see if there were any more surprises. Once that was finished, I started heading towards the temple. I had only taken a few steps before a growl, much louder than the one before, stopped me in my tracks. I turned to see what made that noise; it was another Ursa. But, unlike the first one, this one was almost twice its size and looked a hell of a lot stronger. It looked over at the now dissipating corpse of the smaller Ursa before staring directly at me and letting out a feral roar.

My eyes grew wide as realization hit me, "M-mommy?"

The monster let out another roar and charged, closing the distance between us almost instantly. I panicked while reaching backwards for my quiver and stumbled backwards, the claws of the Ursa grazing my nose with its first swing. I regained my footing and jumped back, opened up the quiver, pulled out an arrow, and shot it. However, the arrow crashed against the bone-like armor that covered parts of its body, so the Grimm didn't pay any attention to it and continued its assault. I moved out of its way before it could ram into me and shot another arrow at it, which hit an exposed spot on its backside. It turned to me and stood on its hind legs, letting out a fierce growl. I took out another arrow and nocked it on the bowstring; I'm at a serious disadvantage from so close. I need to end this fast while I still can.

I brought Zephyr up and aimed at the Grimm's chest, a subtle barrel-like whirlwind forming itself in front of the arrow. The Ursa began rushing forward as I fired; it pierced through the armor on the back of its forepaw after it attempted to swat the arrow away. I kept shooting as it ran towards me, arrows lodging themselves across the chest and forelegs of the beast. Some of them even looked like they might've hit a vital point or two. None of that seemed to matter, however, as the bear monster took every single shot and wasn't showing any sign of pain or exhaustion. Once it got close enough, I tried to sidestep out of its path again, but it wasn't about to let me do so a second time and backhanded me onto the ground. I was able to minimize the impact with wind and then amplified the barrel whirlwind to shoot the arrow I had nocked as strong as I could. But it wasn't enough, as the Ursa smacked the bow and arrow out of my hands and pinned me down with its other leg.

My hands shot down to reach for my daggers, but retracted in pain as the beast began to dig its claws into me. I tried to push the paw off of me, but it was useless. I didn't have the strength to move it, and it only got worse the more I was crushed. After toying with me for a while, the Ursa raised its free forepaw high and brandished its claws. Looks likes its done playing around with me.

This is really bad; I can't get out of this, and I don't think my aura can take any more right now. Is this how I'm gonna go out? Will I be known as the guy who got himself killed during the Beacon initiation? Is that going to be my legacy? Fuck me. I closed my eyes as it brought its paw down and braced myself for the impact, but it never came. I opened my eyes to find out what made the Grimm stop, and saw that its body was being pierced by a wide blade.

"Rrraaaaaagh!" A scream came from the other side of the body, and the Ursa was cleaved in two. The halves of the body shifted off with the blade, removing the crushing force from my chest. Holy shit, I'm alive. Oh, thank god.

Struggling to catch my breath, I looked up to see my savior, only to lose it all over again, because staring down at me were these strikingly beautiful, silver eyes that looked like they captured all of the stars in the… Whoa, slow down there, Nate! I mean, the girl standing in front of me is extremely beautiful, but I don't have a poetic bone in my body. Apart from her eyes, she had a matching silver pixie cut, full lips below a dainty nose sprinkled with… Are those _freckles_?! Yup, those are freckles. Good god, how is this girl real? She looks more like an angel than a huntress.

I tore my eyes away from her face and noticed that her left arm was completely armored from shoulder to wrist; it could pass for a prosthetic if it weren't for her hand sticking out at the end. Her right arm, however, only had a leather shoulder guard and a metal glove, the sleeve of her black top completely visible. In that gloved right hand was the biggest fucking sword I had ever seen in my life. The blade looked like it could be as big as I was and probably weighed a ton, but she looked like she was wielding it just fine and with one hand. How can a person use a sword so big?

The weapon itself was pretty simple in design, it was a greatsword with a black cross guard hilt, leading up to a long, silvery steel blade. The left side of the blade had a thick, short black segment with a hollow, oval center starting at the guard, which was probably how she carried it on her back. I looked back up and her eyes stared directly into mine as she towered over me. She was so beautiful and stoic, like a knight who had just slain the monster to save the damsel in distress.

"My hero…"

Her casual glance turned to a glare, "What was that?" she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

"Oh, n-nothing," I spat out, raising my hands up defensively. Rising off the ground, I took note of just how tall this girl was. She was easily over six feet, which would sort of explain why her sword was as big as my bow. But it didn't explain how she can use that thing with one hand. Eh, I'll find out eventually.

"Thanks, that thing was about to put an end to my life with its _bear_ hands." A grin crept on my face and I shot her the double finger guns, putting them away as soon as I saw that her face wasn't changing.

"Why were you being pinned by such a weakened foe?" Her voice was harsh and cold. Is she angry at me? Was my joke that bad?

"Um, call it weak all you want, but that thing shrugged off my arrows like they were loving taps and just kept rushing me no matter how many times I hit it. I did what I could, considering the disadvantage I was in, but eventually it just knocked me onto the ground and started to crush my chest with its paw. The feeling of having sharp claws stabbed into you isn't exactly a pleasant one, you know?" I replied, absentmindedly rubbing my still numb sides. An idea popped into my head, "Hell, if I didn't have my aura, the pain would've been un _bearable,_ " and I let out a fake laugh, only to end up groaning from the pain in my chest.

The silver haired girl scoffed and started walking away from me. Whoa, where is she going? Aren't we supposed to work together now? How did I mess this up? What did I do? "Hey, hold on!" I yelled as I ran after her.

She stopped and let me catch up. I took a deep breath, which hurt only a little less than before, "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot somewhere, but according to the headmaster's words, from now on we're a team, so could we maybe start over? I'd really like it if we could get along. I'm Nathan."

She let out a sigh and turned to me, "Ellis."

I smiled, "Looking forward to working with you, Ellis," and extended my hand towards her.

She nodded her head, "Let's go," and continued her way north, leaving me with a smile on my face and my arm stretched out like an idiot. I gave a few quick nods while slowly closing my hand and then followed her.

The trek to the temple wasn't a very long one, but it felt longer than it should have with how awkward things were between me and Ellis. The air felt so tense, I could cut it with a knife and probably use it as weapon. I tried making some small talk to break the tension, but my attempts were either ignored or occasionally got me a one-word answer. Well, this is going _great_ , I think I really got that first impression thing down. This is _definitely_ how I pictured this moment to be. A frown formed itself on my face and my body slumped forward. Why is she so quiet? Was it something that I said? Did I offend her in some way? I was only trying to be funny. Does she not like puns? Argh, I don't get it. I rubbed my temple to ease the small headache that was forming.

Oh well, she might be making this very awkward for me now, but with her weapon and her ridiculous strength, she might actually be a perfect fit for my fighting style. Right, should take stock of how many arrows I have left; I did go a bit ballistic with them in that last fight. I opened up the back quiver and counted the arrows inside, which amounted to a total of twelve. So, that means I shot eight of them at the Ursa before. Damn, I can't be wasting so many shots to take down one enemy; every shot needs to count.

It wasn't long before we made it to our destination. The ruins were this massive stone structure in a large clearing that had most likely seen better days. Most of the pillars and walls lay broken around it, leaving its insides completely exposed except for the section farthest from us. Arranged in a semi-circle on the inside were a bunch of podiums, some of which had small black and white objects on top of them, which I assume are the relics we were sent to get. With vines, trees, and moss growing on many parts of the stone structure, it was pretty spot on to how I had envisioned an abandoned temple in the middle of a forest to be like. Nice.

As we made our way closer to the ruins, I saw that there were two others that had probably just gotten here now as well standing by the podiums. Hey wait is that… oh, it is!

"Rory!"

 **Looks like the mystery member has shown up. Or should I say the Ms.'s E member? I'll be here all week.**

 **Please let me know you guys' thoughts on how the fight scenes feel. Writing combat has always been one of my weakest points and your feedback would help me improve. I want to thank my editor for helping me out with the rewrite; you're the best Isa, couldn't have done this without you.**

 **I hope to see you all in the next chapter. Take care.**

 **WindRanger**


	5. This is (Not) Fate

( _R POV_ )

Soon after Kenneth and I met and started our partnership, we resumed the hike to the temple. My fight with the Boarbatusks would've taken a lot more time if he hadn't shown up when he did. His fighting is definitely extraordinary, and he seems like a nice enough guy. If anything, I'd say he's just a bit too friendly. But I'll worry about that later. We walked for a couple of minutes before reaching a large clearing, in the middle of which stood the ruins of a temple.

"Looks like this is it," I said out loud. Getting here was pretty simple, and it's a hard place to miss, so it doesn't seem like anyone could get lost. That's reassuring.

"Really? What makes you say that?" Kenneth asked sarcastically. I chuckled as I rolled my eyes at him and started walking to the ruins. Stands encircled the stone floor of the abandoned structure, and although most were empty by now, some held chess pieces at their center. Many of the pieces were the only ones of their kind in the temple, but a few of them had a matching pair on another stand.

"So, these are the relics we have to take back?" I turned to Kenneth, who was eyeing a black king piece.

"Guess so," he replied, pushing the crown of the piece to tip it over and then pulling it back up upright. He continued to play with the piece as he shifted his gaze to me, "You play chess, Rory?"

"I used to play with my brother back home. I won most of the time, but he wasn't very good, so I don't know if that says much about my skill." He let out a small laugh. I chuckled, "Oh, shut up. What about you? Do you play?"

"I do, actually. As a matter of fact, I won a chess a tournament here in Vale a couple of years back," he replied, a proud smirk on his face.

"Whoa, um, wow. That's… not what I was expecting at all. You weren't kidding when you said you were full of surprises, Kenneth."

"Told ya. And you can call me Kenn, everyone does." He flashed me a smile. "Anyways, we should hurry up and take a piece so we can head back. Pick whichever one you want."

I raised my eyebrow in confusion, "You don't have a preference? Aren't some pieces more valuable than others?"

"Nah. The white ones left don't hold a lot of value, and black goes after white, so they are played responsively most of the time, which isn't really my style." He set down the piece he was messing with and walked towards me, "So, go ahead. I'll trust your judgment; after all, you do have that woman's intuition." Oh. I see.

"Okay, I getcha. Thanks," I tilted my head to the side and smiled winningly. He gave me a wink and turned his attention elsewhere, leaving me to focus on the relics. I rolled my eyes once his back was turned, then focused on my task. Alright, we have to bring back one relic to the cliff for to be graded, to then be joined with another pair to make a team. And some of the pieces have a pair here, so maybe pairs who have matching pieces are put together? If that's the case, it's basically a draw of luck that decides who my other two teammates will be. Yikes. This is a far cry from how things were done in Atlas, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Time to make a choice then; let's see…

"Rory!" I jumped slightly, turning towards the direction my name had come from, and saw the boy from the airship walking towards me.

What was his name again? Oh, right! "Nathan! Hi! How are you?" I walked in his direction to greet him.

"I'm great! I could have lived without the whole Ursa-almost-killing-me thing, but, other than that, I'm doing good," he said in an aloof tone of voice. A look of worry must have been written all across my face, since he immediately brought his hands up, "Whoa, sorry, it was a joke! I mean, I did fight an Ursa and it _maybe_ could've killed me, but it didn't! Well, as far as I'm aware, at least." I couldn't help but laugh at his rush to reassure me, and it wasn't long before he started to laugh as well. Nathan's a bit strange, but it's not an off-putting kind of strange. It's like he's comfortable with himself, and doesn't seem to care what others think. It's quite admirable, actually.

"So, how did you get yourself out of that?" I asked, a little more relaxed.

"Oh, actually, Ellis got me out of that mess. She cut the thing in half with one swing." He looked back towards the girl he called Ellis. She wore a black shirt that reached down to her elbows, grey hiking pants tucked inside black boots, and a massive greatsword strapped to her back. She was also very tall, taller than either Nathan or Kenn, which made me feel both shorter than usual, and not-so-short at the same time. The metal armor she wore was pretty unassuming, but what caught my attention was the dark red cloth that she had wrapped around her waist.

It was sort of like an asymmetrical battle skirt, the half on her left leg being much shorter than the one on the right, which reached down to just above her knee. A distinctive emblem adorned the right side of the cloth: a maroon shield with a red stripe down the middle. The shield bore the image of a fortified tower with had griffins at its sides, wings spread to take flight. A simple straight sword ran behind the tower and through its middle, and wrapped around its guard was a single scroll that displayed the phrase, " _Ad victoriam_ ". I remember seeing that crest somewhere before, maybe in a history book. Yeah, now that I think about it, it belonged to a family known for being a spectacular dance troupe, whose mesmerizing performances won many competitions all over the- Wait, no, those were swans, not griffins! This one belong to that other family, known for their outstanding military prowess. Their strength and tactical know-how was the reason that the kingdom of Vale was able to remain standing despite being in the midst of countless opposing forces. So, that means that this girl is a member of House Turm, and, as such, is most likely quite the fighter.

I stood in front of her and looked straight into her eyes, "Is that right?"

She looked back unflinchingly, crossing her arms and shifting her weight to her left hip, "I was making my way to the objective when I came across this _boy_ being pinned to the ground by an Ursa. It would have ended his life right then and there if I hadn't intervened." She glanced over to Nathan and let out a soft groan before looking at me again. Ooo-kay, hostile much?

"You don't have to be so blunt about it." The boy in question mumbled out, scratching the back of his head. I wonder what happened between these two? I'll find out later, I suppose.

"In any case, your family name precedes you." I straightened my posture and extended my hand, "I'm Rory Aedus. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Her lips curved upwards slightly as she straightened her back, too, and took my hand with a firm grip, which I returned as best as I could. "Ellis Turm. Though, it looks like you already noticed. Likewise."

"And I'm Kenn." I looked back to see my partner making his way over to us, with a self-assured grin on his face. "So, tell me, beautiful, what's it take to reach the peak of your summit? Cuz I'm more than up for the challenge." He swept back the sides of his open button-up bjjto stuff his hands into his pockets, in an ever-so-subtle attempt to show off his orange tee pressed tightly against his abs.

I took a step back, mildly shocked as I tried to comprehend Kenneth's calculated movements. The pose looked almost like it had been choreographed and rehearsed numerous times to get it just right. Ellis was completely silent, creating a rather unsettling atmosphere in the air. Maybe she took it as a joke? I turned to her again to check, only to see that she was staring straight at Kenn. The small smile and calm gaze she had just a second ago were now replaced with an ice cold glare, eyes locked onto his. I'm gonna go with no, she didn't.

"If you want a hiking challenge, how's about I break one of your legs, and you make your way back?" Her silver eyes burned into him as she spoke, "If you're lucky, you might even get a head start while you're still conscious." She deadpanned her words, but they carried a sharp and dangerous edge. I don't think she's joking; maybe I should stop Kenn before it's too late…

"C'mon, baby, don't be like that." With Ellis's clear threats flying right over his head, Kenneth continued his assault, getting even closer to her. "It's not my fault you're so attractive; I can't help myself from getting lost in your- Urgh!"

The words of my ever-so-charming partner were cut off as the Titan girl grit her teeth and grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifting his body up in the air. "H-hey! What the hell, let go of me!" Kenneth struggled to free himself, but couldn't get out of her iron grip. His face contorted with rage and he started to tell her off, but the moment he met her gaze, his anger was replaced with hesitation. There was nothing in her eyes except fury, but something about it didn't sit right with me. I thought she had just been offended by his familiarity, that Kenn had stepped out of line and into her personal space, but this was something else.

"Tell me, do you ever think about whether or not girls even _want_ your compliments, huh, pretty boy?" She spoke in such a neutral tone of voice that it was easy to forget she was close to choking the guy.

"W-what? What are talk-"

"Answer the question." She raised him higher, her knuckles grazing his Adam's apple with just enough force to make him start gagging.

"What- Of course. Girls always want compliments, what kind of stupid question is that?" he spluttered. Anyone in their right mind would have been quaking in their boots, but he managed to keep his bravado intact.

She didn't say a thing, just glared at him for another second. I wasn't sure if I saw a glimmer of anguish in her eyes for just a second, because in the next moment they turned steely again. She scoffed, let go of her captive, and walked towards one of the few standing pillars. The movement was so sudden that he didn't have a chance to catch himself, and fell flat on his back.

"Man. That girl has one hell of a grip." His voice was cool and calm, which was quite the feat, considering he was two feet off the ground just a moment ago and seconds away from possibly needing facial reconstruction surgery. I walked over to Kenneth to see if he was okay, but he had already stood up and was brushing dirt off his pants.

Ellis leaned back against a pillar, let her shoulder drop, and closed her eyes. It was almost as if she hadn't just been a few badly chosen words away from killing someone. Her outburst didn't seem proportional to Kenneth's crime, but not in a way that made me think she was overly emotional. No, it seemed more like an accumulated reaction, like when a pipe with too much pressure finally bursts. She really is gorgeous, so gorgeous that I can barely look away sometimes, so "compliments" like Kenneth's must happen often.

"Nathan. Grab a relic and let's go," she yelled to her partner, who had been silently watching this fiasco unfold.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then backed out at the last minute and instead gave a thumbs up, doing his best to avoid any sort of eye contact. Looks like whatever it was probably wasn't going to be very helpful, so he thankfully kept it to himself. I wonder why Ellis spoke so badly about about him? He seems like a nice guy. He turned to us, a smug grin on his face, "Well, that went well. You two _really_ seemed to hit it off. I mean, you just met her and she's already interacted more with you than she has with me. You _are_ good, Kenn; didn't even have to use your cards this time. I could learn a thing or two from you."

I stand corrected.

"Knock it off, Nathan," I shot back with a half-hearted chuckle, "Anyways, let me introduce you guys; Nathan, this is Kenn- Wait, you said his name just a second ago." Did I hear wrong?

"We've met," Kenneth said in a dry tone of voice.

"You have?" I looked at the pair, and judging by the differing expressions on their faces, it didn't exactly hint at a very friendly first meeting.

Nathan walked up to Kenneth, his smile not faltering in the slightest "Yeah, I met the wizard here yesterday before the induction speech. Hey, sorry about ruining your card trick; we good?" He brought his fist up and offered it to Kenn, who just rolled his eyes and walked past him. "Is everyone just going to leave me hanging today?" he said, sounding quite defeated, and brought his hand down to his side with a sigh. He stayed like that for a moment before turning to me, "So, did you two grab your relic yet?"

"Not yet, I was in the process of picking one when you showed up."

"Oh, cool. So, do you have any idea of how the teams are picked?" He shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and swayed back and forth in an attempt to seem nonchalant.

"I don't have a definite answer, _but_ I did see that some of the relics have a matching piece, so maybe it has something to do with that. Here, I'll show you." I beckoned him over and walked back into the ruins with him, pointing out the pieces that still had their mate. He began walking around the podiums and examining the relics. "So, your theory is that we'll be paired with whoever has the same relic as the one we take, right?"

I crossed my arms and reclined on an empty stand, "Maybe. It's definitely a possibility." Nathan kept eyeing the remaining pieces, eventually walking over to a pair of white bishops, taking them both in his hands and returning to show them to me.

"Wanna take these then?" He offered one of the pieces to me with a warm smile on his face.

"You want to team up with me and Kenn?" They didn't seem to get along all that great, so why would he want to be on a team with him?

"Yeah. Sure, being with someone like Kenneth for the rest of my time here isn't exactly what I had been hoping for, but he's your partner and I really would like to be on the same team as you. That is, if you're okay with that." His body shrunk a bit as he spoke and looked away from me, his cheeks turning slightly red.

I gave a small laugh, and grabbed the piece out of his hand, "I'd be happy to be on a team with you."

"Seriously? That's great!" It took a lot of willpower to not laugh at how excited Nathan sounded, but I managed to contain myself. It's weird; with how snarky he was being just a moment ago, you'd think he would be more cool about something like this. He put his hands behind his back and stood in attention, almost like a soldier, and spoke in a formal tone, "My bow is yours, Rory. I swear that I will do anything and everything in my power to protect you and our team."

"Even die for one of us?" I asked him in the most serious tone I could manage. He's too serious for me _not_ to tease him.

Just as I thought, the brunet archer's face went pale at the idea of dying, "Ummmm… So, maybe not _everything_... I was thinking more along the lines of keeping Grimm off you guys with cover fire or distracting enemies with my shots... I kind of like living, it's pretty fun…"

"Calm down, I was just kidding." I responded, chuckling at his dismay.

"Oh. Well, then. I never took you for one to play with a boy's pure heart." He crossed his arms and huffed as he looked away in mock disgust, causing me to laugh even more.

"Okay, okay, I shouldn't have said that." I managed to pull myself together, drying a tear from my eye. "Besides, I'm not planning on letting anyone die on our team, so don't worry."

"Good! We're too young to have funeral stories, don't you think?" he said, dropping his hurt act.

I giggled. "Anyways, we should get going. You go tell Ellis about this whole team thing, and I'll do the same with Kenn. Then, we'll regroup and head back to the cliff together."

He nodded, "Sounds like a plan," and walked away to pass on the information to his silver-haired partner.

Well, let's get this over with. I made my over to Kenneth, who was sitting on a collapsed pillar performing tricks with his yo-yo. His eyes were fixed on his hands as he maneuvered the string; the way he manipulated the yo-yo made it look like it was dancing around his fingers. Seeing him so concentrated on something was a bit captivating. I watched him until he took notice of my staring.

"Like what you see?" He stopped the yo-yo mid-swing, letting it dangle like a pendulum, and gave me his usual smirk.

I scoffed. "Nah. The tricks were cool though."

"Ouch." He chuckled as he let the yo-yo fall, and then reeled it back in one motion. "We moving out? We're still missing the other half of our team, and I don't want to hang around long enough to be roped together with those two."

"Yeaaaah, about that." Here we go. I moved over to the pillar and sat down next to him, "I was talking with Nathan while we were grabbing our relics, and we sorta agreed to form a team together."

"Oh, okay." He began to nod his head in agreement, but stopped once he had processed what I had just said. "Wait, what? Tell me you're joking."

"Nope. Nathan asked me if I wanted to team up with him, and I said yes. I figured that the chess pieces might have something to do with how the teams are chosen, so... they have the same piece we do." Kenneth scowled in annoyance and opened his mouth to argue, but before he could start, I said, "Hey! You gave me full reign over what relic we take back, and this was the I one picked. Or are you doubting my 'woman's intuition'?" I adopted his cocky smile and raised my eyebrow, challenging him to try and prove me wrong.

Our eyes locked onto one another for a few moments. He closed his eyes and brought his head into his palm, sighing in defeat, "I guess not. Fine. If this is your final decision, I'll play nice with those two. But don't expect me to be all buddy-buddy with either of them now just because they might be my teammates." _So_ close, Kenn. You were doing so well.

"Fair enough." I pushed myself up to my feet and turned to face my partner, "Anyways, we should start making our way back; wouldn't want to spend any more time than we need to out here."

"Good point," he said as he stood. We made our way to the entrance of the ruins where Nathan and Ellis were waiting for us. I couldn't help but notice the latter still looked at Kenneth with a trace of disgust. These are going to be some interesting four years.

"All set on your end?" I asked Nathan, who looked over towards his partner. She offered a nod, which he then repeated to me.

I stood in front of all three of them and smiled, "Alright. Let's head back." And so we started the trek back to the cliff. Everyone was kind of quiet at first, which was expected, but still a bit upsetting, so I started making small talk and asking general questions about everyone. I decided to start with where everyone was from. I knew Nathan was from Atlas, but I learned he lived in Doldrey, a city right outside the kingdom's walls. Both Kenneth and Ellis were from Vale, but Kenn lived in the kingdom's walls while Ellis was from Patch, a small island just west of Vale. I asked her what it was like to live there, to which she only said, "Boring," and then asked me where I was from before I could ask her why.

"I live in Atlas. It's really nice and pretty, but it's nothing you can't see in a postcard," I replied, which got me a small laugh from her.

"I get what you mean," she crossed her arms, "Patch is pretty much the same. There are some nice beaches, but I didn't really have any reason to go to them other than the class trip or the rare training session." The way she talked was completely different from before.

I turned around and began walking backwards in front of her, "Well, maybe you could show me them someday. It sounds really-"

"Look out!" The sound of Kenn's voice of alarm made me swivel my head back, where I met face to face with a Beowulf just moments away from taking a good slash across my face. Before I could raise my hand to project a barrier, I was pushed aside, a large sword slamming into the lycan-like creature's abdomen and sending it flying. I looked back to see Ellis holding her weapon, both hands gripping it firmly by the hilt. I opened my mouth to thank her when two screeches brought my attention back towards the open field, where two Nevermores dove to attack me, only to be shot down by arrows.

Nathan lowered his bow and peered out into the woods around us. "We've got company," he said in an uncharacteristically calm voice.

I stood beside him and glanced at our surroundings, "How many?" Kenn joined us, ready for a fight.

"Fifteen...17... Twenty, give or take. Beowulves, Ursi, Fenrirs, a few Nevermores; it's a full house. What brought so many of them here?"

"It doesn't matter how they got here. What matters is that we have a fight at hand," Ellis replied in a dry, curt tone of voice as she rested the blade on her shoulder.

Nathan nodded, and so he pulled out another arrow and nocked it on his bowstring. Hmm, these two might have conflicting personalities, but they seem to at least find some common ground when in a fight. I raised my right arm to my chest and reached my left hand into the sleeve of my coat, pulling the shortsword from its sheath. I then flicked my wrist to activate the Dust mechanism of the concealed armguard. I wasted a few charges on those boars earlier, but I should have enough for this fight.

The wave of Grimm began to creep out from the trees, slowly surrounding us.

"Anyone got a plan?" I said as the monsters began closing in, waiting for someone to take the initiative.

"Well…," Nathan had barely opened his mouth when Kenneth charged alone towards a group of Beowolves to our right. "Wait! What are you- Ugh!" the brunet groaned in annoyance as my partner pressed on, causing the rest of the Grimm to begin their assault on us. "Do what he's doing, I guess!" he yelled as he pulled back on his bowstring and began firing at the approaching horde.

Ellis crossed over to the left toward a large group of Ursi, which left me to rush the enemies that were coming from the front. I brought up a barrier ahead of me, causing a Beowulf, which had been rushing towards me, to reel back after colliding headfirst with it. The beast staggered back from the impact, giving me more than enough time get in range and deliver a series of criss-cross slashes to its chest. I kicked the beast down to clear my view, and quickly jumped back to avoid the claws of an Ursa that came from behind the slain Beowulf. I stepped out of its next swipe and parried the third strike with my blade, breaking the bear's guard.

I quickly brought up my right hand and bent my ring finger, causing a large stone spike to form in front of my palm, which then pierced right through the Grimm's chest. A second Beowulf was coming in my direction, but turned over to the right and took off, straight towards Ellis. I turned my head to see if she needed any help, only to spot her mid-swing through an Ursa's torso. The blade went through its body like a hot knife through butter, a concept that was as impressive as it was unsettling. The Beowulf that tried to flank her was joined by another one, but both were quickly dispatched with one wide sweep of her humongous sword once they got within reach. Seriously, _how_ can someone use something so big, so well?

It hadn't even been a second after the 'wulves had fallen when a large Ursa ran out of the trees and began its assault on her. These monsters seemed dead-set on preventing her from catching her breath, but that didn't seem to bother Ellis one bit. She accepted the Ursa's challenge and stood her ground, blocking all of its strikes almost effortlessly and moving the greatsword in her hands as if it weighed nothing. After a few more deflected strikes, the Grimm brought both its paws down on the silver-haired warrior, creating an unnerving sound as its claws met the flat of the blade. She placed her left hand on the middle of the blade to keep it steady as the Ursa attempted to disarm her. It slammed its paws against the blade over and over, one after the other and ending each time with a double overhead. Ellis didn't budge an inch. The Grimm pushed down on the blade, and she responded with just as much force.

They were at an impasse; Ellis matched the Ursa's strength, and didn't show any signs of being overwhelmed. Just as the fight seemed like it was going to go in her favor, a pair of Fenrirs sped past me towards the combatants, seeking to take advantage of Ellis' exposed back. I brought my hand up and took aim, determined to take them out before they could intervene with her fight- but as everyone knows: wolves hunt in packs. Just as I was about to fire, something inside compelled me to peer over my shoulder; speeding towards me was the rest of the pack, moments away from catching me off-guard. I jerked my body towards them and bent my middle finger, blasting the monsters at point blank range. A fiery eruption covered the area in a flash, consuming the wolves that were caught in its blast. When the smoke cleared, only the scorched remains of their bodies lingered on the ground.

I let out a deep breath as I lowered the barrier in front of me. I'm glad I put it up when I did, or else I would've cooked myself along with them. Remembering the two that were still running towards Ellis, I quickly turned my body and aimed at the attackers, but it was too late. The Fenrirs were too close to fire at them now; there was a large chance I would hit her by accident if I intervened now. As if she had read my thoughts, she looked over her shoulder and took notice of the Fenrirs that were about to ambush her, but didn't look worried in the slightest. In fact, I could've sworn I saw her grin, as she flipped a switch at the base of the grip, causing a small black square to separate from the sword. The blades of the sword split down the middle, forming two parallel rails. Does she have a plan?

Once the rails had formed, she pushed the Ursa off her and let the blade fall to the ground, completely exposing herself to her opponents. The Grimm moved in, seizing the new opportunity to take down the swordswoman. As they closed the distance, she calmly brought her left hand up towards the guard of her weapon and, placing her finger on the trigger, waited for the right moment. The Ursa reeled its right paw back and swung, striking her with enough force to send someone flying. But she didn't budge at all, firing at the ground and spinning around from the recoil. The Grimm that seemed to have the advantage over Ellis just a moment ago, were caught in the force of a powerful spin attack and now lay dead around her.

She straightened her posture and eyed her weapon, which, from the way she was holding it, seemed to be releasing a substantial amount of heat from the blade. She closed it, keeping it a good distance from her body. That's weird; could it be that the gun heats up when it's fired? As she inspected her weapon, a Beowulf managed to sneak its way over to her side, making its presence known with a snarl as it brought down its claws on her unsuspecting head. She jerked at the sound and brought her weapon up to block the strike, but the beast's attack fell short, as it's chest was pierced by an arrow that then burst into shards of ice.

I traced the arrow back to its origin, and spotted Nathan standing a great distance away from where Ellis and the Beowulf were. There was probably more than a hundred feet between them, not to mention Ellis herself; that must have been one hell of a shot to take. He lowered his bow and seemed like he was about to start celebrating, but was interrupted as he was raising his fist by a feather slicing through the air in front of him. He raised his head quickly to see a Nevermore swooping in for the kill, just before he started to scramble back as the knife-like feathers rained down behind him. He reached over and grabbed an arrow from his quiver as a stabilizer extended from the center of the bow, nocked it back, and, in one swift motion, rolled out of the path of the incoming feathers and fired at the bird, knocking the creature out of the sky. The moment he was upright again he looked over his shoulder, spun around, and jumped back, dodging the onslaught of a Beowulf. While in the air, he reached behind to his lower back and hastily pulled out a red-tipped arrow, firing it at point blank range as he touched down on the ground. The tip exploded within the beast, taking it out, but the flames of the explosion were large enough to consume Nathan as well. There was a stillness after the blast, and I started to fear for his safety, until the brunet popped out of the smoke, seemingly untouched by the fire. I let out a sigh of relief; that was a risky move he just pulled.

The sound of footsteps brought me back to my surroundings, and I looked around to see a Beowulf and a Fenrir approaching me from opposite directions. I raised a barrier between me and the Beowulf, stopping its charge, and swung at the smaller Grimm. This one, however, seemed to be a bit craftier than the rest, and bit down on the blade mid-swing, stopping the attack and leaving me completely exposed. I pulled on the sword to get it out, but it wouldn't give way as the beast's armored jaw held it tightly in place.

As I struggled to free my sword from the Grimm's snout, the largest Fenrir in the pack rushed towards me and hurled itself at me. I braced for impact, but halfway through its jump, Kenneth's yo-yo rammed into its face as the other wrapped around its hind legs, binding them together and stopping its forward motion. He started to spin the beast around, and his yo-yos seemed to disappear, sending the Fenrir flying at the one holding onto my sword, knocking them both down. Without missing a beat, he ran towards the Beowulf and, using my barrier as a wall, pushed off it and slammed his foot into the Grimm's face. As the creature stumbled backwards, he threw a yo-yo around its neck and pulled it back towards him, planting a punch square on its face and yanking on the cord until its neck snapped, knocking the lights and life out of the beast.

I brought down the barrier and turned my head over to Kenn, giving him a small smile, "Thanks." He chuckled and responded with a nod before we turned our attention back to the two Fenrirs. I brought my sword up to my right hand and stood my ground as the two dashed towards me. I bent my right pinky finger and moved my hand over the blade, coating it in a torrent of wind. Okay. Let's do this. The smallest of the two leapt at me first and was met by a flurry of blows as I swung at it, my sword moving at an incredible speed. The wolf's body was slashed left and right, eventually tumbling off to the side, dead. I immediately brought my attention to the one remaining, which was already charging straight for me, about to pounce. As soon as it did, I formed a small barrier at the palm of my hand and let the Fenrir smack its head into it. It reared back from the collision, and the moment it did, I bent my knees and lunged forward, thrusting my sword into the creature's chest and pinning it to the ground.

Kenneth walked up beside me and looked down at the felled Grimm, and nodded, "Nice." I giggled, but the laughter was short lived, as we found ourselves surrounded by three more Fenrirs. We stood back to back, and I noticed that, other than the two Ellis and Nathan were fighting, these three seemed to be the last ones.

"Hey, Kenn. Think you can show me what you can do with that yo-yo?"

He scoffed as he pressed a button on his weapon, "Please." He took off towards one of the wolves and, before it could make a move, brought his yo-yo up and slammed the underside of its jaw. He then placed his left arm on the rising string, bringing it back around into the Grimm's face. The yo-yo stayed in motion as Kenneth maneuvered it all around his body, wreaking havoc on the creature that, no matter what, couldn't escape from his assault. A second Fenrir tried to jump in while he was attacking, but it was quickly cracked in the ribs by the swinging shell. It whimpered away from Kenn, and I took the opportunity to strike the dazed Grimm at its nape with a quick thrust of my sword. As I shook the corpse off my blade, the last Fenrir set its sights on me, charging forward in what seemed like an all-or-nothing attack. I raised my weapon and prepared my counterattack, but as soon as it leaped, the exposed part of its head was pierced by an arrow, which let out a jolt of lightning once it hit its mark. The beast's body went limp and tumbled forward, stopping once it bumped into the corpse of Kenneth's opponent, as he reeled in his weapon with a quick flick of his wrist.

I sheathed my sword and walked over to Kenneth, who greeted me with a big grin.

"Okay, I'll admit. Those were some pretty impressive moves," I remarked in defeated tone.

He let out a small giggle at the comment, causing me to laugh as well. Ellis made her way over to us, with a smaller but just as pleased look on her face. The two glanced at each other, and, after a few moments of tension, exchanged accepting nods. A smile crept up on my face; maybe this won't be _so_ bad. Who knew that a heated battle was just the thing to break the ice.

Noticing his absence, I looked over to where Nathan was, who seemed to be carving into the corpse of his last target with a dagger. After a bit of struggling, he pulled out two arrows from the Ursa, slipped them back into his quiver, and got back on his feet. He caught my gaze, and flashed me a big grin as he raised raised his fist triumphantly. It was hard not to share in his excitement. We did it! We won. He slipped his bow on his back and made his way back towards us, when a tall shadow appeared in the trees behind him. Four red dots glowed menacingly from the shadows, peering into the clearing. I watched as the figure started to come closer, the smile on my face washing away as a cold rush of fear skittered down my spine, watching as the tall form took shape. Ellis and Kenneth both took notice of the incoming creature at the same time, and their looks of unease and surprise made Nathan turn around and see what we were looking at. When he did, I watched as his back tensed up like a wolf raising its hackles at the sight of a threat.

Standing over him at almost ten feet tall, the Grimm was unlike anything I had seen before. It's head was completely armored and looked like that of a bull's skull; its gaunt features and the long horns growing from the sides of its head gave it a malevolent look that scared me more than any Ursa or Beowulf ever had. The body of the beast was absurdly muscular, and fairly lacking in armor, except for the exposed rib-cage protruding from its chest.

It's massive hands held large stones that reached all the way down its bull legs to its hooves. They seemed to be makeshift weapons, if the dry bloodstains were anything to go on. Its legs trailed up to a sort of humanoid upper body, with a long tail of vertebrae jutting out from under its waist, swaying from side to side and completing its nightmarish appearance.

We stood there, motionless, as the giant monster let out an ear-shattering screech into the sky. This fight isn't over yet.

 **Man, Dark Souls III is a great game. Overwatch is super fun, too. Not sure if they were the best thing during my finals, but time will tell whether or not that's the case. With the semester over, I'm now free to focus on a bunch of projects, as well as spend more time writing. Sorry for the even longer wait between chapters, and I hope to see you guys in the next one. Take care.**


	6. We Are (Not) a Team

This fight isn't over yet.

Kenneth and Ellis readied their weapons at the arrival of a new threat as I did the same. Nathan, however, stood motionless in the shadow of the Grimm, still frozen underneath its imposing presence. What does he think he's doing?! I called out to him as the tall creature brought down one of its stone cleavers, snapping him out of his daze just in time for him to roll forward and narrowly avoid the makeshift weapon as it dug into the ground. Back on his feet, he unsheathed his blades and went in for a stab, aiming at its thigh. It was a useless attempt since its tough hide didn't allow him to cut very deep, and so the majority of the daggers stuck out of the unfazed beast like it was some nightmarish pincushion. Another loud screech roared through the forest, and the creature took hold of him with its now free hand just as he tried to get away and regroup with us. Nathan struggled to free himself from the Grimm's crushing grip, only to get his wish by being thrown in our direction. I conjured a powerful gust in his direction to try and slow him down, a soft clunk coming from the guard as it ejected the now-empty Dust cartridge. Oh c'mon! Why'd you have to run out now?

It seemed to be enough, though, as he began to lose momentum little by little When it seemed he had slowed down enough, I raised a barrier in his path to act as an improvised landing pad. Nathan curled up into a ball as he crashed into the amber wall, fell to the ground, and then quickly sprung back on his feet, flashing me a grateful smile. I nodded back and then we turned our attention back to the Grimm, who had just pulled out its cleaver and was letting out another loud screech.

"What the hell is a Minos doing here?" Nathan yelled as he sheathed his daggers, his voice trying to hide his fear, his eyes betraying him .

I raised an eyebrow at his outburst, "You know what that thing is?" How come I've never heard of this type of Grimm? I reached into my coat and pulled out a cartridge of wind Dust, replacing the one that had just run out.

"Enough to know that we're better off getting out of here. Now!" There was no missing the meaning behind his warning. I shifted my gaze towards the tall creature, which was staring us down, as if patiently waiting for us to make a move. Something that struck me as rather strange, considering one of us had just attacked it. Whatever kind of Grimm this Minos is, it's definitely acting unlike the other Grimm I've seen before.

"Oh c'mon, are you kidding me?" Kenneth huffed out as he nonchalantly stepped forwards, the Grimm growling as he approached. "I'm not about to turn tail and run away like some weak little loser! If this thing wants a fight, then I'll be more than happy to provide." he grinned as he flicked his yo-yo down in a circular motion.

"You'll _what_?" Nathan grabbed his shoulder and turned Kenneth towards him, "Look dude, I don't care how good you _think_ you are, but that isn't your average Beowulf, okay? We need be smart and get _away_ from it." I'm not exactly sure why he kept stressing that we avoid fighting this thing. Both Kenn and Ellis are exceptionally skilled fighters, and he isn't exactly some amateur either. Plus, it's all alone against the four of us. I looked over at the Grimm once more; its large size and haunting appearance sent a chill down my spine. Its glowing red eyes met with my own, my body unconsciously taking a step back. A loud, horrifying shriek rang out as it began storming its way towards us. Looks like it's done waiting around.

"Oh, shit..." Nathan muttered out as the beast charge towards us.

"Everyone, get behind me!" I called out as I positioned myself in its path, stretching both arms forward. I cleared my mind and took a deep breath as I projected a larger amber barrier between us and the Grimm. The beast pummelled the barrier mercilessly, my face wincing as I felt the force of each strike. Just how strong is this thing?! Little by little, I felt my defenses crumble away from its strikes, finally shattering as it brought down both its weapons in a mighty swing. I tumbled to the side, miraculously avoiding the attack, only for it to lash its tail at me. I thought for sure that was going to get me, when it was parried by Ellis's greatsword, saving my skin for the second time. She gestured at me to move away before focusing on her opponent, tightening her grip on the sword. I took her advice and moved back, feeling my body become sluggish as I began to struggle to breathe. I didn't think that thing would take so much out of me so quickly.

After registering the new threat, the Minos wound up its arms for a wide slash, but was interrupted by a sudden strike to the face from Kenn's yo-yos. Ellis took the opportunity and began her attack, her sword leaving light cuts as she mercilessly struck its abdomen. All the while, Kenneth continued to ram his weapons onto the beast's exposed back, taking whatever opening he could use. The two continued their individual assaults into the Grimm, which was having a hard time keeping up with the different fighting styles. The creature seemed overwhelmed by their attack and it felt as though this fight was about to be over. This wasn't so bad. What was Nathan so worried about?

Ellis brought down her sword on the Minos, who in turn caught it by forming a cross guard with its own weapons. The two began to push each other in hopes of breaking the other's guard, the Grimm's overwhelming strength beginning to show as it began to push Ellis back, who kept her form despite losing ground. Things weren't looking good, the beast's push moments away from overtaking her, when Kenneth kicked the back of its knee, causing the Minos to rear back and lay off Ellis. The swordswoman didn't waste the opportunity and quickly took a wide slash at the Grimm; an idea that Kenn also had in mind as he stepped to its side and swung at its chest. Their weapons met halfway, the yo-yos colliding with the greatsword, wrapping themselves around the blade and stopping both attacks before they could reach their intended target. The Minos lashed out, twisting its body, slamming Kenn away with the back of its cleaver and swiping up at Ellis with its tail, hitting her directly at her core and sending her reeling back towards where I was standing.

The Grimm continued its attack on Ellis, closing the distance with a hop and bringing down its weapons right above our heads. I quickly raised my hand in its path and formed a barrier between us, putting everything I had into keeping it up. As soon as it made contact, I felt my knees buckle slightly inwards and feared that my shield would shatter with just the initial force of the strike. It was able pull through, and the cleavers slid off, crashing at our sides. Ellis quickly sprang forward, swinging her sword down at the beast's head to gain some ground between us as it blocked her charge with its weapons. I followed in suit, taking advantage of its distraction to thrust my sword at one of the unarmored segments of its chest, piercing the skin with almost no resistance and leaving a deep wound. The beast howled in pain as it stumbled back, the blade slipping out just as easily as it went in, and then hastily covered its chest by crossing its weapons. Something which Ellis had accounted for, striking the crude cleavers away with a wide swing of her sword, breaking its guard before going in for her own thrust attack.

It was an easy hit, but as soon as she started moving her sword in, two lighting spears lodged themselves in the Grimm's back, causing it to flail its body in pain. The sudden shaking caught Ellis by surprised, and she immediately jumped away from the monster, swinging her sword so as to protect herself from any wild attacks. As the spears dissipated, the Minos looked over where they came from, quickly bringing up one of its cleavers to swat away an arrow which exploded a few seconds after being deflected.

The Minos now had his sights on Nathan, turning its back on me and Ellis to charge towards the archer. He began firing his arrows in quick succession, most of which just bounced off the beast's hard flesh. Once it was close enough to him, the Grimm began to slam its crude weapons on the ground, forcing the brunet to take drastic evasive action. After dodging the first few strikes, he closed his bow and made a mad dash toward the gap between its legs. The Minos swung down in front of its legs in hopes of crushing him, but luckily, he was able to tumble through without getting hit.

The Grimm's tail shot after him, but two strikes at the back of its neck caused it to shrink back. When it looked over it shoulder, the beast was met with a solid uppercut, courtesy of Kenneth's yo-yos.

"I'm not finished with you, pal.", his eyes were cold and dangerous. Looks like he didn't take being swatted away very well. The Minos snarled as it turned to him, letting out a powerful scream once it faced him. He, however, wasn't intimidated in the slightest, catching both yo-yos before falling into a fighting stance "Let's go!"

Kenneth charged at the beast, side stepping its first attack and slammed one of his yo-yos on the monster's wrist, releasing its grip on the stone cleaver. The Grimm tried to grab hold of him, but he jumped out it's reach, and continued to strike all over it's body. The beast picked up its weapon and began swinging left and right trying to rid itself of its pest, but Kenn was just too fast for it to land a hit on him. It was an impressive sight, but the way he danced around the Minos and the speed at which his weapons were spinning made it almost impossible for either me or Ellis to help. The Grimm eventually brought down both its cleavers with a loud roar in hopes that Kenneth would at least back off. But all that bought him was a second as, after he jumped out of the attack, he quickly jumped onto the cleaver and swung both his yo-yos across its face before jumping off again. He went in for another strike but before he could attack, an arrow aimed for the beast's chest collided with his one of his yo-yos, causing both of them to get tangled before it detonated just a few feet above him.

The force of the explosion sent Kenneth tumbling towards where Ellis and I were standing, with a few bumps and scratches. The Minos took the full force of the blast, standing in the flames as if they were nothing and then snarled at the archer, charging off towards him. I brought back my right arm, bent both my index and pinky fingers and thrust my hand towards the creature, blasting it with a powerful blizzard, encasing its body in a layer of ice. Sweat dripped off my face as I began to catch my breath, placing my hand on my chest to try and calm down my heartbeat. The Grimm seemed motionless inside of its icy prison, but the small, hairline cracks that were quickly forming said otherwise. Even though it was frozen from head to toe, the Minos struggled to free itself from the restraints, which were already starting to give way from its sheer strength. I wiped the sweat off my forehead with my sleeve. That ice isn't gonna hold that thing for long. We need a plan, and fast. I opened my mouth to ask if anyone wanted to discuss some sort of tactic, but it seemed like teamwork was the last thing in their minds right now.

"Watch where you're shooting, jackass! You could've killed me!" Kenneth yelled at Nathan, who had just made his way over to us.

The archer's face dropped, "I'm sorry? That shot was perfect until you decide to spin your yo-yos right in its path!"

"Riiight. And I'm sure that almost getting the amazon killed was also 'a perfect shot'? Give me a break, dude." It looked like they were one insult away from things getting violent. I should stop this.

"Um, guys…" I tried to to get their attention, but was completely ignored by both of them, much to my annoyance.

"Maybe you should practice what you preach, Kenneth." Ellis spoke up, staring at my partner with the same cold eyes as before. Not you too…

"Hey guys…" I spoke a bit louder, but was once again totally ignored by everyone. This is really starting to get on my nerves.

The anger on Kenneth's face rose as he switched his gaze to her, "You wanna go too, princess?" he said, as if challenging her.

Her cool expression contorted with rage. "Bring it on!" she spat out as she dug her sword into the ground and brought up her fists, ready to put him in his place.

I grit my teeth in anger as I brought my fingers up to my mouth and let out a loud whistle, "That's enough, all of you! I've had it with all this stupid arguing!" The three of them shared a look of shock at my outburst, "In case you all forgot, we are in the middle of a fight and our attacks are just barely hurting this thing. We don't stand a chance to win unless we stop going at each other's throats and figure out how to work together."

"But-"

"Upupup. I don't wanna hear it. None of us can take on this Grimm in a one-on-one, it's too strong. But that's why we have teammates. To work together and even our odds of winning." A loud screech and the sound of ice shattering caused us to turn back and see the Minos, which had freed its head and one of its arms from the icy prison. It raised up the stone cleaver to break the rest of the restraints when two light blue arrows flew towards its arm, freezing it once again. We all looked back at Nathan, who let out a sigh as he lowered his weapon.

"Rory's right. This thing isn't going to back off peacefully now that it's all riled up. If we work as a team, we'll stand a better chance of beating it." he stared at the Grimm before looking over at us, a grin on his face, "And, hey, if this goes horribly wrong, at least getting killed by a Minos sounds a lot better than dying to an Ursa."

My lips curved upwards as I shook my head, "A bit morbid, but I appreciate the spirit. Thanks, Nathan. And I told you, I'm not gonna let anyone die. Not on my watch." We shared a brief smile before another loud screech brought our attention back to the frozen Grimm, the ice covering it about to give way. Nathan and I got ready to fight back when Ellis and Kenneth placed themselves in front of us.

"I think we can put aside our problems and fight together. Ain't that right, buddy?" she said, giving Kenn a "playful" punch on the shoulder, causing him to stumble a bit.

He glared daggers at Ellis before swallowing his anger, rubbing his arm, "Yeah, whatever. Let's show this thing what it gets for picking a fight with us."

The tender moment was broken by a scream and the sound of ice shattering. The Grimm had finally freed itself from most of its icy restraints, the arm Nathan shot being the only thing still frozen. It let out another scream as began to thaw out the frozen arm with its other cleaver.

As it tried fully free itself, Ellis centered her sword, aiming it at the struggling beast, "So, any ideas, anyone?"

I cupped my chin with my hand. How do we beat something that we can barely hurt? Wait, my sword went through its chest no problem that one time so... "Maybe... "

"Got something, Rory?" Ellis asked, looking at us over her shoulder.

"I'm working on it." my eyes shifted over to the frozen arm of the Minos, the ice quickly giving way under the hammering force. "Ellis, Kenn, could you two keep that thing busy for a bit? I need a little more time to think."

She glanced over at Kenneth, who gave her a reluctant shrug, and sighed, "I think we can manage." The Grimm had finished thawing out its arm and began making its way over to us, its red eyes lit with rage. The two exchanged a quick nod before charging over to keep the beast distracted while I came up with a plan. I took a deep breath and turned my head over to the last of my teammates,"Nathan, what exactly do you know about this thing?"

He moved his hand away from his quiver, exhausted of all but two lonely arrows, "Well for starters, the Minos are a very advanced species of Grimm, capable of more than just basic thought. They like to observe their prey and adapt to them, which makes fighting them more and more difficult as time draws on. On top of that, their hide is ridiculously strong, almost as tough as tempered steel. But like everything else in the world, they aren't perfect. Minos are generally impatient and will charge wildly at their prey if they aren't fighting back. The flesh on their chest is very tender, it's the best way to do some serious damage," That explains why my sword went through so easily. "So I'd say our best bet is to aim all our attacks at the gaps in its armor and hope we hit a vital."

"Is it possible to break through its armor and hit one directly?"

"What?", he looked over at me, visibly confused at my suggestion, "The armor on its chest is just as tough as the rest of its body, if not tougher, and we barely scratch its skin as is! What could… we... " his train of thought seemed to have stopped and a smug grin began to creep onto his face.

"You have an idea, don't you?" A series of nods answered my question. "Well, what is it?

He took the quiver off his back and stood it on the ground "So, I wasn't wrong. So far our weapons haven't been able to pierce through its hide, so trying to crack its armor sounds like a really stupid idea, right?" Okay. Rude? He could've at least humored me.

"Yeah?", I nodded at him to continue.

"Well, I just remembered something that _just_ might make it seem a lot less stupid." He pressed down on the black centerpiece of the quiver and from it, a large arrow extended out from it. He pulled out the rest and presented it to me, his eyes twinkling.

I looked over the massive projectile. Roughly 3 feet in length, it was longer than my sword or any of his other arrows, and had an arrowhead unlike his other arrows. Instead of sharp, flat blades, the tip had a spear-like look about it. I remembering reading about this type of tip before. It's a bodkin point, an arrowhead that was extremely effective at piercing armored foes in battle.

"You think this can break through that Grimm's armor?"

"It's definitely worth a try! I made this arrow with piercing the hull of an airship in mind, so there's a good chance it'll work here. But I only have one, so I'm going to need an opening to land the shot." I raised a finger to question why he would want to shoot down an airship, but gave up before asking. There's probably a better time to ask that than in the middle of a fight.

"Okay, I'll go let Kenn and Ellis know." I handed back the arrow and placed my hand on his shoulder, looking straight into his eyes, "We're gonna be counting on you."

"But no pressure, right?" he teased as he spun the arrow in his hand before nocking it on the bowstring and extending its stabilizer. I rolled my eyes at the comment and then started running over towards the rest of the team. Let's hope this works.

As I got closer to the fight, I noticed something strange about the Minos. Unlike before, it was keeping up with its two opponents, easily blocking and dodging most of their attacks despite Ellis's raw strength and Kenn's speed. Did it already figure out their attack pattern? I grit my teeth; if that's the case, we won't be getting anywhere if they keep attacking it wildly. Once I was close enough to the Grimm, I stretched out my right arm and took aim at its face. We need to regroup.

"Kenn! Ellis! Fall back!" I called out as I fired a bright red orb at the beast's face, which burst into an intense light as soon as it made contact. The Minos was temporarily blinded by the sudden increase in brightness, allowing for both of my teammates to make their way over to my position. The Minos shook off its daze, and roared at us, but didn't charge. Instead, it stood still and stared at us, waiting for us to make the first move. I felt my hands tighten into fists. This isn't some mock field practice or hypothetical scenario. What I say now could decide whether we win or lose this fight as well as the fate of three other people. I took a deep breath and unsheathed my sword, "Okay, here's the plan. Nathan's going to shoot this thing in the heart with a piercing arrow. But to do that, the three of us need to make an opening for him to hit his mark. So here's what I got: We're going to bait the Minos into charging at us. When it does, Ellis, you meet it halfway and keep it busy. Try to keep it focused on you, no matter what. While you're doing that, Kenn, you and I are going to go around and flank it from both sides. Use your speed to get some hits in and get out before it hits you. We'll keep at until I give Nathan the signal. Are we clear?"

Ellis raised her still heated sword up towards the Grimm and tightened her grip on the hilt, "Understood."

"Hit and not get hit?" Kenneth pressed a button on his yo-yos, a light humming noise now coming from them, and smirked, "You got it."

"Good. I'll try to shield you guys as best as I can." I locked eyes with the Minos for the second time, standing firmly as I pointed my sword at its form. Let's do this.

There was a stillness in the air as the three of us stood our ground, quickly trying the Grimm's patience until it snarled and dashed straight towards us. Ellis took point in our charge while the rest of us followed behind. As the Minos swung its cleavers down on us, she blocked its attack with her sword before pushing in with one of her own, locking the Grimm's weapons with her own. We took the opportunity to get behind and strike at its backside. I projected a barrier in front of my partner as the beast's tail shot out towards him, successfully getting both of us behind it. Once in position, the two of us began striking at the Grimm with everything we had. Kenneth mercilessly slammed his yo-yos on its spine, stopping its tail from doing anything while I aimed my attacks its knees, causing the Minos to lose its balance against Ellis's push. The beast tried to push her off so it could deal with us, but the moment it showed the slightest bit of disinterest in her, she took a small jump back and brought her sword down with a loud cry, bringing its full attention back to her as it crossed its weapons to block the strike.

The Grimm, however, didn't want to continue its stalemate against her and attacked her with its tail, which, despite Kenneth's constant efforts to keep it still, powered through the pain and lunged at her. I attempted to block it with a small shield, which was broken as quickly as it was made, the tail striking her abdomen her shortly afterwards.

Ellis held her ground as she skidded back, dirt rising from the ground like a fire trail from her feet, the Minos took a swing backwards at Kenneth. I instinctively rose a barrier in its path, but as soon as I did, the Grimm twisted its body and turned the weak slash with its cleaver into a massive, wound-up strike headed straight for me. What the-!

I placed a barrier in front of me as quickly as I could and braced myself for its attack, but the cleaver stopped before it hit me. Looking down its arm, I saw Kenneth's yo-yos, wrapped tightly around the Grimm's arm.

"Whenever… you want… babe…" he managed to spit out as he struggled against the Minos's strength. A smile crept on my face as I took in Kenn's gesture before I took aim at the beast's hand, letting go of my sword to hold my right arm steady. "Hurry!" My partner called out as his hold on the arm began to slip. Here goes nothing! I bent my ring and middle finger and blasted the Grimm's hand with a large amount of heated shrapnel, causing it to pull back its arm as well as drop the cleaver. With the Minos now down one weapon, Ellis rushed in to resume her attack.

The beast swung its remaining weapon in hopes of pushing her back again, but its attacks were all parried by her massive sword. Once she got close enough to strike, the Minos brought its cleaver up to its chest to block her, but as she prepared to swing her sword, the blade began opening up, switching into its gun form . She gripped her weapon tightly and fired as she brought it up, absolutely destroying the Grimm's guard as well as sending the the second cleaver flying. That's it!

I turned my head over to where Nathan was and screamed out, "Now!" As I looked at him, I noticed the bottom of his jacket flapping in some very strong winds. Which was weird, considering there was almost no wind blowing, especially not _that_ strong. His arrow came not even a second after we broke the Grimm's guard, breaking right through its armor like wet paper. The Minos let out a loud scream of agony before toppling forward, snapping the arrow and almost taking Ellis along with it if she hadn't gotten out of the way in time. We… we did it. I lowered my arm, the now depleted cartridges falling from my sleeve, and let my body fall backwards. We managed to pull it off without anyone getting hurt. I'm glad.

I closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling of the warm sunlight in my face, but was soon interrupted by a series of shadows covering me. I looked up to see everyone standing around me with confused and worried expressions on their faces. Heh, I guess me dropping like that freaked them out a bit.

"I'm fine guys, just wanted to soak in the sun a bit." I let out a giggle as I sat back up, hugging my knees to stay upright, "Sorry for the scare."

Kenneth rolled his eyes at my half-hearted apology and offered me his hand, "A little warning next time, alright?" he pulled me back to my feet and place his hand on my shoulder, a legitimate smile on his face.

"Will do." I said with a small smirk before turning to face the others as well, "Let's get going." The three exchanged glances before responding with a nod each. I chuckled to myself as I began walking back to our objective. Maybe this team won't be so bad after all.

After making it back to the cliff, we handed back the relics we had grabbed and waited for the headmaster to address the team formations. He made his way over to the mic and, after a few short words, began the ceremony.

"Ellis Turm. Kenneth Kenway. Nathan Forrest. Rory Aedus." And it looks like we're the first up. We made our way up to the stage and stood in the order he called us. "The four of you retrieved the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RKNE," The room filled with some clapping and cheering as he said our team name. Looks like I was right about the chess pieces. "led by... Rory Aedus!" My eyes widened as the crowd applauded again and I looked over to my now official teammates. They all gave me a smile with a nod; not one of them seemed to be against the decision of leadership. I flashed them a quick smile of my own before turning over and bowing at the headmaster. We walked off stage and watched the rest of the ceremony in relative peace.

After all the teams were announced, we were dismissed and sent off to our newly assigned dorms. The room looked like what you would expect from a boarding school: a work desk for studying, small bookshelf, closet, and enough beds and chests for those living there. Two of the beds were close together, next to a window in the furthest wall, while the others were on completely different ends of the room. The first thing we had to address were the sleeping arrangements, and, after a short talk and listening to Nathan's request to sleep next to a wall, we decided that the Ellis and I would get the beds closest to each and the boys would get the beds off to the wall.

"Alright," I strode over to my bed and clapped my hands together to get everyone's attention, "today's been quite the day, so I say we all turn in for the night. Any objections?"

"No ma'am." Ellis said as she set her stuff down next to her bed and plopped down on it.

"Same here," Kenneth said as he pulled out a pair of blue pajama pants and a teal t-shirt before tossing himself on his bed.

"Um, actually, I kinda wanted to unpack my stuff." Nathan chimed in, earning a pillow thrown at his face from Kenn.

I sat down on my bed and crossed my arms, "Well, if you can promise to keep it quiet…"

"Done. You won't even notice I'm here." He sounded very sure of himself as he put his bags down and opened them up, probably to get the loud zipping and unlocking noises out of the way. I looked over to Ellis and Kenn, who just shrugged in response; didn't thinkthis would be one of the first times calling the shots as team leader. I gave Nathan a shrug as well, his lips curving up to a smile as he got to unpacking.

The rest of us got in our beds and shut off the lights, Ellis and Kenneth falling asleep a few moments afterwards. I sat up and took one last look at the room and my teammates, Nathan waving at me when he caught my gaze. I waved back before laying on the bed again, thinking about today's events. Meeting Kenn and Ellis, our fight against the Grimm, seeing everyone's strength and abilities, beating the Minos, being put in charge of a team. A smile grew on my face the more I thought about it. I still can't believe it.

" _My_ team." I whispered the words to myself. They felt so unnatural, but filled me with excitement as well. I need to work harder now. Not just for my sake, but for them as well. I'll do whatever it takes to become a leader that my team can feel proud of.

( _N POV_ )

I carefully pushed my bags underneath my bed before resting my head on its side, letting out a sigh. Unpacking without making any noise is harder than I thought; who knew hanging clothes could make so much noise if it's not competing with anything else? I pushed myself to my feet, grabbed a small box from the ground, and placed it inside a large, hollowed out Game Master's manual in the bottom of the bookshelf. This should work for now, until I find some better spot. I looked over to my sleeping roommate's to see if I had woken any of them up to see the three of them sound asleep, only making noises when they shifted their positions. The room was in complete silence, until the blaring sound of my ringtone began to fill it with mediocre alternative rock lyrics. I quickly shut off the ringer and was about to send the call to voicemail until I read the caller ID. It was my dad. Did I forget something?

I answered the call and brought the phone up to my ear, whispering as low as I could manage, "Dad?"

"Hello? Nathan? Are you there? Hello?" Unfortunately, the other end of the call wasn't my dad, but my little sister who didn't seem to catch my hushed tone, her voice resonating through the silence as she practically yelled into the phone.

"Shhh! Jennifer, I'm in the dorm room and my roommates are asleep, keep it down." I said a bit louder as I walked out into the hallway. "Okay, I'm out of the room."

"I'm sorry. I didn't expect college students to go to bed so early."

I let out a sigh, "It's fine. I'm also a bit weirded out by it, to be honest." she let out a small giggle at the comment. I started to walk around the halls aimlessly . "Anyways, what's up?"

"Well, I wanted to tell you about my course placement tests."

"That so? Your weapon give you any trouble?"

"Nope. She's as good as the day you made her. I'd even say a bit better because of my modifications." A smile formed on my face as I heard Jennifer's very proud affirmation.

"Well, don't leave me in suspense, What'd you get?"

"I scored above average at ranged combat and average in melee." She said, sounding rather confident about her achievement. Above average at ranged, huh? Maybe it's in our blood...

"It's a bit sad that the school won't have another AP ranked student from our family, but at least you aren't a remedial case." a smirk formed on my face as she let out a huff of annoyance. "In all seriousness, I'm really proud of you. Keep working hard and you'll be a fantastic huntress."

"Thanks! What about you? How was your first day?" Uh-oh.

" _Well_ ," my voice raised in pitch as lied back on a wall and switched the scroll over to my other ear, "Let's just say, it was more eventful than I thought it would be… But I'm totally fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Besides, I've had crazier days, like the time you, me, Kaz, and Seth went out to get lunch and you guys ended up at the police station picking me out behind a one way mirror. Remember that?"

Hehe, yeah. I was scared because one of the officers wanted to ask me some questions, so you kept telling them that I had nothing to say and to leave me alone. You were so persistent that they thought you had something to with the crime and they took you in." we shared a laugh over my misadventure, and then there was silence. "I miss you, Nate."

"I miss you too Jenny." I looked over at a clock on the wall; it was getting pretty late. "Hey, I gotta go. Classes start early tomorrow, so I should try to get as much sleep as possible."

"Oh. Well, goodnight. I love you, Nathan."

"Love you too, sis." with that she hung up, and I made my way back to the room. I tiptoed my way over to the bed and managed to get under the covers without making any sort of noise. I stared blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling; I'm not sure what to expect out of the next couple years, but I need to remember what dad said. This isn't my dream anymore. Whatever happens from here on out…

This is my reality.

 **A.N. And with that, team RKNE is finally formed. It took me quite some time to write these last couple of chapters, but I'm glad with how they turned out and I hope you guys enjoyed them as well. I also want to take this chance to address the team name in relation to Monty's color rule. RKNE and its members, as well as any other team I create during the course of this story will not follow Monty's rule. This isn't to be disrespectful to the creator, it's only because I personally think the rule really limits just how creative one can be with a team and its members. Instead, any team I create will follow his other trend; each team and their members will have a certain theme that will be prevalent in their names, personalities, clothing, or fighting style. RKNE's theme is the four basic Elements. I'll leave it to you guys to figure out who is who, although some might be easier than others. That about does it for me here, as always, take care and I hope to see you all in the chapters to come.**

 **P.S: To those who have been keeping up with the fic so far, I updated the first chapter because I felt it was a bit lacking, so be sure to check it out.**


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